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Ashraeads. Page 166. 

STATUE OF CHARLES XII.— STOCKHOLM. 

Frontispiece. 









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The Ashmeads 



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SCENES IN NORTHERN El HOPE. 



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PHILADELPHIA: 

j^^merioan [^aptist Publication Society, 



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THE ASHMEADS; 



OR, 



SCENES IN NORTHERN EUROPE, 



BY E. P. A. 







PHILADELPHIA : 

AMEEICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
1420 Chestnut Street. 



Entered according to Act ol Congress, in the year 1887, by tne 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



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UBKARY 
Of COIIORB8S 



WASHINOTON J 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

CHAPTER I. 
Mrs. Ashmead's Reception 5 



CHAPTER II. 
The Ashmeads Off for Europe 19 

CHAPTER III. 
First Views of Antwerp 30 

CHAPTER IV. 
A Continental Sunday 43 

CHAPTER V. 

Among Friends in Hamburg 57 

CHAPTER VI. 
Mr. Meyer's Family Circle 74 

CHAPTER VII. 
Visit to the Rauhes Haus 81 

CHAPTER VIII. 
A Day Under Mr. Morley's Escort 90 

CHAPTER IX. 

Sorrow and Disappointment for Hartley Gifford... 114 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 

PAGE. 

The AsIIMEADS in CorENHAGEN 1^^ 

CHAPTEK XI. 
Through the Gotha Canal 141 

CHAPTER Xn. 
Amusing Search for a Friend in Stockholm 158 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Cordial Welcome at Waxholm 185 

CHAPTER XIV. 
On the Way to the Swedish Norrland 196 

CHAPTER XV. 
A Farm in the Swedish Xorrland 210 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Harry Loses Himself and Finds a Friend 234 



The Ashmeads. 



M 



CHAPTEE I. 

MRS. ASHMEAD'S reception. 

Y dear Anna, there is no use talking any more 
about it. It is absolutely out of the ques- 



Having uttered this remark in a very peremptory 
tone of voice, Mr. Ash mead laid his paper on his 
crossed knees, and waited with frowning brow to hear 
what his wife would say next. 

Mrs. Ash mead did not look at all like a- woman 
who was determined to have the last word. I^ow 
she went on with her needle-work quietly ; but there 
was a slight quivering of her gentle lips, which 
showed that she was feeling deeply, though she said 
nothing. 

As Mr. Ash mead's positive assertions had been 
intended as a beginning of an argument, rather than 
as a complete closing of the subject under discussion, 
he soon resumed, in a milder tone : 

" You must surely see, Anna, that it is the only 



6 THE ASHMEADS. 

way to settle this affair. We caunot have the young 
fellow dangling about here, and saying afterwards 
that he has had encouragement." 

" No, certainly not," replied Mrs. Ashmead ; '' but 
if we make a change, and treat him suddenly with 
marked coldness, I fear it will not be the way to gain 
your object. Mary would be sure to wonder at any 
change in our manner towards him; and — in fact, dear 
John, other people would notice it also. It would 
cause remarks, and it would be hardly fair to Mr. 
Gifford, who is really a very estimable young man." 

'^ Oh, yes ! estimable enough, no doubt," answered 
Mr. Ashmead, testily; "and so was the Rev. John 
Smith, who used to preach for us such sleepy, good 
sermons. Nobody could say any thing against the 
man, except that he was an awful bore. How w^ould 
you like to see our Mary a pastor's wife, like Mrs. 
Smith ? " 

"Oh, John !" exclaimed Mrs. Ashmead, her gentle 
blue eyes filling with tears. ''You know I did not 
mean that." 

" Well, then, just take my advice," said Mr. Ash- 
mead, softening at the sight of his wife's distress. 
" Let young Gifford alone. Don't invite him here 
any more, and don't let Mary go where she is likely to 
meet him." 

''Shall I then not ask Mr. Benson, or Mr. Clarke, 



THE ASHMEADS. 7 

to our receptions, as formerly ? '^ inquired Mrs. Ash- 
mead, earnestly. 

^' Oh, yes ! You must of course ask Harry Benson, 
the son of my old partner ; and as for young Clarke, 
you know I promised his uncle that I would look 
after him ; and I begin to fear that he is a little bit 
inclined to be wild. We must do all that we can to 
keep him out of mischief," answered Mr. Ashmead. 

" Then, how can I pass over Mr. Gifford, who has 
been intimate with both of them all through their 
course, and has really done a great deal to restrain 
Frank Clarke's wild .tendency ? *' said his wife, gently. 
" If I do so, it will be treating the young man as if he 
had proposed and been refused, and this simply be- 
cause we are afraid he thinks too much of Mary." 

"Why in the world could he not have been some- 
thing else than a theological student?" exclaimed Mr. 
Ashmead, irritably. 

When a man's logic is found in fault he gener- 
ally grows cross, while illogical woman rises serently 
above such small considerations, and is happy in pro- 
portion as her logic fails; therefore the world at large 
should be profoundly grateful that such a disaster 
rarely happens to the masculine mind. 

Mr. Ashmead now threw his paper on the table and 
rose from his chair. 

" We mio-ht have made somethino; of him if he 



8 THE ASHMEADS. 

had taken the ordinary course, like Benson, and 
Clarke ; but I do really believe that tliese theological 
students at liiverton Seminary take to the ministry 
because they have not the capacity for anything else.'^ 

" Oh, my dear, I am sure you do not mean that," 
expostulated Mrs. Ashmead, gently. "I know that 
there are truly Christian young men among the theo- 
loo-ical students at lliverton." 

" Yes, yes, I know. But which of those young 
fellows could manage a business concern, or show the 
pluck and push necessary for a young man who would 
get on in the world now-a-days.? However, that is 
not the question. With your woman's wit you can 
manage this matter. All that I want is, not to hear of 
any nonsense about Mary and this young fellow. She 
has had good advantages, and she is above the common 
run of girls. If she marries, the fellow must be in- 
telligent and well informed, as well as a Christian. 
I have no intention of allowing her to be carried off 
and buried in some country parsonage with a man who 
cares for nothing beyond preparing a sermon or two 
a week, and where her chief enjoyment may be a tea- 
party, at which the women talk about their children 
and missionary flannel underclothes, while the men 
get in a corner by themselves and talk of crops and 
church debts, and delinquencies in general. Well, 
you understand ; and now I leave it all to you." 



THE ASHMEADS. \) 

Tills long speech had the good effect of restoring 
Mr. Ashraead's equanimity. He nodded pleasantly 
to his wife, and as Mary's voice was heard outside in 
the hall the subject of conversation was changed very 
quickly. The subject itself, however, could not be as 
quickly or as readily dismissed. 

The Ash meads ranked among the most hospitable, 
as well as the most intelligent and agreeable people in 
Kiverton. To be shut out from intercourse with a 
family where intelligence and all the social refinements 
were heightened by the spirit of true Christianity, 
would be counted a misfortune by any one in River- 
ton who had ever had the privilege of enjoying that 
intercourse. And the very fact that Mrs. Ashmead 
was accustomed to extend to all her guests a quiet and 
cordial hospitality, mingled with lady-like reserve, 
made it an impossibility for her to act with apparent 
rudeness or caprice towards any of them. 

Hartley Gilford stood well in the esteem of the 
Professors at Riverton Seminary, and was considered 
by them as a thoroughly good young man. He had 
been brought up, on moderate means, by religious 
parents ; but, in his home circle, there had been no 
remarkable amount of intelligence. His parents in 
fact looked upon their son's fondness for books as an 
evidence of extraordinary talents ; and when he felt 
that he ought to enter on the work of the ministry, they 



10 THE ASHMEADS. 

inude every effort to enable him to follow his desire 
and to attain a thorough preparation for his work. 
With this object in view he entered E-ivertou Seminary, 
and when there he studied iiarder tlian most of his 
fellow students. But, it must be confessed, that for 
some time he had a tolerably good opinion of his own 
acquirements. A turning point, however, came. 

When the Ashmeads returned from a visit to Cali- 
fornia, where they had spent several months, for the 
benefit of Mrs. Ashmead's health, Hartley Gifford's 
industry in study and earnest Christian spirit attracted 
Mrs. Ashmead's attention, and caused her to take an 
interest in him; and when, a little later, Henry 
Clarke came to the Seminary, recommended to Mr. 
Ashmead's special care, and formed a close friendship 
with Hartley, both the young men were cordially wel- 
comed at Mr. Ashmead's. 

In this refined and intelligent home circle, a new^ 
world seemed to open to Hartley Gifford. Subjects 
in history, literature, and art, wdiich he had labori- 
ously studied, and on acquaintance with wdiich he had 
rather prided himself, were chatted about as naturally 
and as easily as old Job Pyle, the blacksmith at home, 
used to discuss the likelihood of Squire Martin's new 
mare having tender fore-feet ; and even the boyish 
chatter of little Harry Ashmead, who, at that time, 
was hardly ten years old, showed that he was taught 



THE ASHMEADS. 11 

to tliiuk and to notice, as a bright child quickly 
learns when lie is in the company of intelligent and 
thoughtful people. 

And now that Mary had grown to be a lovely 
woman of twenty, and Hartley Gifford was looking 
forward in three months to his graduation, when his 
vague plans for the future must begin to take definite 
and practical shape, Mr. Ashmead had been startled 
by a look or a tone from Hartley, or a deepened 
color in Mary's cheek, and perhaps by a jesting 
remark from some officious neighbor. He did not 
state the exact match tliat had set flame to his suspi- 
cions ; but, at all events, it led to this announcement 
to his wife, that Plartley Gifford must not be invited 
to the reception that she was to give shortly. Mrs. 
Ashmead felt as strongly as her husband, that the 
man who might seek Mary's hand ought to have some 
better prospects and something more to depend on 
than a mere diploma of graduation; but all the wit 
of ten thousand women could make it nothino^ but 
sheer rudeness to drop young Gifford now from the 
list of guests invited to this large reception. And, 
moreover, the wit of this one woman was quite suffi- 
cient to assure her that this would be the readiest way 
to excite wondering protest in the mind of her 
daughter. As to Mr. Ashmead's further suggestion, 
that their doors should be permanently closed against 



X2 THE ASH MEADS. 

]Mi-. Giiford, and that IMary slioiikl be kept away from 
all places where she would be likely to meet him; that 
idea was certainly worthy of the masculine estimate 
which is inclined to suppose that his wife can do 
nothing that he can do, and, per contra, that she 
ouo-ht to be able to do every thing that he cannot do. 
There was one way by which to cut the Gordian 
knot, but INIrs. Ashmead did not wish to suggest it, 
as she knew that sooner or later Mr. Ashmead would 
himself speak of it, if it were possible. 

When the time came to send out invitations to the 
recei)tion, her husband remarked, pleasantly: 

"It will be well to ask that young man, Anna. 
Of course we want to be civil to him; and I have a 
plan that will settle the matter we talked of the other 
day. What do you think of another trip across the 
water?" 

" I know^ the children would enjoy it ; and if you 
can go, I think it will be very pleasant," replied his 
wife. 

" Very well ; I will arrange it. But don't say 
anvthim^ about it for a week or two, till I get mat- 
ters definitely settled." 

The result of this decision was, that on a lovely, 
mild evening in April, Mr. Giiford found himself in 
]\[rs. Ashmead's brilliantly lighted rooms, receiving 
the usual kindly welcome from host and hostess. 



THE ASHMEADS. 13 

His opportunities of speaking witli Mary were, 
however, very slight. She Avas too much occupied 
with their numerous guests to give more than a few 
words at a time to any one of them. She did, how- 
ever, ensure him an interesting companion ; for after 
exchanging a few words with him, she said, pleas- 
antly : 

'' I see Mrs. Leroy standing alone. I must go and 
speak to her ; but first let me introduce you to the 
Kev. Mr. Carleton. He is a delightful old gentle- 
man. In talking with him, one finds out fifty ways 
of doing good that one had never thought of before. 
Jt seems to me that his mind takes up the different 
objects of church-work, each in its turn, as naturally 
as we girls think of our bonnets as the seasons 
change." 

While speaking thus she crossed the room to a 
table, where a tall, white-haired gentleman was turn- 
ing over some photographs of noted buildings and 
scenes in Europe. 

Having given the introduction, she flitted away to 
give pleasant words and cheerful smiles to a stiff and 
rather unamiable looking lady, who AA^ould often be 
left entirely to herself if Mary Ash mead did not stop 
to listen courteously and reply brightly to her some- 
what tedious speeches. 

Mr. Gilford was half inclined to wish that he was 



14 THE ASHMEADS. 

prosy Mrs. Leroy; but he soon found that his com- 
panion well merited all the praise that Mary had 
given him. 

Mr. Carleton did not forget that he had once been 
a voung theological student himself, and he possessed 
the cheerful, kindly nature that makes its owner sym- 
pathetic with both young and old. 

Hartley Giffbrd soon found himself talking quite 
naturally and openly about his plans, and his ambi- 
tion to do well in the noble work upon which he ex- 
pected soon to enter. From talk of himself, his hopes 
and aspirations, they quickly drifted to the wider sub- 
ject of the work to be done for the Master all over the 
world, and Mr, Carleton spoke of the struggles of 
Baptists in the old countries of Europe, where the 
truth is imprisoned like Enceladus under an Etna of 
prejudices and habits confirmed by the growth of 
centuries. 

" It is hard for us in this young and free country to 
imagine what it is that they have to fight against over 
there,'' said he. "But you," he added, turning to 
Mr. Ashmead, who had joined them, "can under- 
stand this better ; for you have been to Germany and 
to Sweden, and you have seen for yourself what we 
only read about." 

'' Oh, yes," said Mr. Ashmead, a little embarrassed, 
" I have heard about the Swedish and German Mis- 



THE ASHMEADS. 15 

sions. But we did not go to Sweden when we were 
in Europe, and — let me see — was the German Mission 
begun at that time? I don't remember hearing 
anything about it. I know that I have given to- 
wards its support, but I think that was since we came 
home/' 

" Ah," said Mr. Carleton, pleasantly, " if you go 
over there again, you must look up our brethren in 
Hamburg. I have just been reading a touching ac- 
count of the difficulties the students there have to 
contend with and the hardships they endure.'^ 

" Ah, indeed ! '^ replied Mr. Ashmead. He seemed 
rather embarrassed, and Mr. Gilford wondered a little 
what could cause his host's usually genial manners to 
be so constrained. 

Mr. Carleton, however, went on quietly speaking 
about the state of the churches in Sweden, and his 
great desire to see the strange and wonderful land of 
the midnight sun. When Mrs. Ashmead left them to 
attend to other guests, Mr. Carleton remarked to his 
young companion : 

^'People often do not improve all their opportuni- 
ties of giving a helpful word and kindly sympathy 
where such are much needed. As I cannot myself go 
over the ocean, I try never to lose an occasion to enlist 
the personal interest of those who are likely to be 
near our struirsrlino^ brethren." 



16 THE ASHMEADS. 

This remark awakened in Mr. Gifford's mind a 
stron^r desire to know more about these missions in 
Northern Enrope ; but it suggested no idea of any 
personal connection with his own life. It was not 
until this delightful evening was completely gone into 
the past that he discovered what a break in his own 
almost unconscious happiness was to follow. 

He was studying hard for the final examinations, 
and thus several days had passed without his seeing 
the Ashmead fomily, when one evening his friend 
Clarke came into his room, saying : 

" Have you made your party call on the Ashmeads 
yet, Gifford?'' 

" No," he replied ; " I have not. I have been as 
busy as I could be ever since their reception ; but I 
am going to-morrow." 

^^ Well, you had better be quick about it. They 
are going away," replied Clarke. " They are to sail 
for Europe pretty soon." 

Hartley Gilford took the news quietly enough, and 
Clarke soon sauntered off to find a more talkative 
companion. But it was not his studies that kept Gif- 
ford silent. He never before had such hard work to 
understand what he was reading. He was amazed at 
himself to find how those few words of Clarke's had 
taken his heart out of his work. At last, angry with 
himself, he planted his elbows on his desk and covered 



THE ASHMEADS. 17 

his ears with his hauds, so as to nail his attention to 
the work before him. Bat thoughts could hardly be 
governed thus. It was very late that night before he 
closed liis book. Eager, anxious plans of what he 
would say on his visit the next day would press in, 
filling his brain and dispersing all thoughts of study. 
Perhaps it is needless to add that he was not planning 
how he should say Good-bye to Mary. 

As it proved, however, there was no opportunity to 
say good-bye, or anything else. It was Mrs. Ash- 
mead alone who came forward to greet him when he 
called at the house on the following afternoon. 

" I suppose you have heard the news ? " she said. 
^' We are to sail next week; and, as Mr. Ash mead 
gives us but a short time in which to get ready, I 
had to send Mary on to her Aunt Cornelia, in New 
York, to do some necessary shopping before we leave. 
I hope that we shall not have a rough passage ; for 
I am but a poor sailor." 

" Is she — is Miss Ashmead coming back this 
week?" asked Mr. Gilford. 

'' Oh, no ! there is no time for that. We shall pick 
her up there, as we intend to sail from New York," 
replied Mrs. Ashmead ; and then she went on chatting 
in her usual quiet tones. 

In her heart she was intensely sorry for the young 
man, and she did her best to help him to recover him- 



18 THE ASHMEADS. 

self. He (lid his best too; but he never afterwards 
could remember in the least what they talked about, 
and his voice sounded to him very strange and hoarse. 
" We shall see you again before we go," said Mrs. 
Ashmead, as he rose to take leave, and Mr. Gifford 
answered : 

" Oh, yes ! certainly. This is not good-bye." 
But here again was a good-bye that was never 
uttered ; for on the day that the Ashmeads steamed out 
of New York harbor, Hartley Gifford was standing 
by his father's death-bed. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ASHMEADS OFF FOR EUROPE. 

TT was a bright and cool morning in May, as the 
Ashmeads, after saying "Good-bye" to relatives 
and friends, stood on the deck of one of the largest of 
the ocean steamers, Avaving hats and handkerchiefs in 
company, though not in strict time, with several score 
of their fellow-passengers. 

This has become more of a conventionality than 
anything else — a kind of survival from the old coach- 
ing days, when every little journey of ten or twenty 
miles was made the occasion of a great airing of 
pocket-linen. It is becoming more and more out of 
date as time goes on, more's the pity ! There is some- 
thing about the custom which seems to render us — 
for the time, at least — not so much of living automata. 

In point of fact, Mr. Ashmead, having traveled 

much, and crossed the ocean many times, thought 

scarcely any more of the voyage than a Philadelphian 

does of the ferry-boat passage to Camden; and he 

swung both hat and handkerchief spasmodically and 

perfunctorily. Mrs. Ashmead felt much the parting 

from her only sister, and she waved adieus with as 

19 



20 THE ASHMEADS. 

much energy as slie could muster, considering her 
dread of the sea-sickness, which she had an idea might 
attack her at any moment, as if the infection germs of 
the malady, were somehow mysteriously contained in 
the sides of the ship. 

Harry was in his element, and perfectly overjoyed. 
He perched himself wherever he thought he would be 
most conspicuous, tied his handkerchief to the end of 
his umbrella, and shouted "Good-bye!" in exactly 
the same tone and with fiir more readiness than he 
would have said, "How do you do?" Mary Ash- 
mead stood near her mother, and kept her gaze stead- 
fastly fixed on the little group standing on the wharf. 
As she gazed, her eyes almost filled with tears. Even 
to herself it was a surprise— that parting from her 
aunt and her young cousins, whom she had hardly 
known until the previous week, should occasion such 
deep emotion. 

By this time the steamer was far out in mid-river. 
People on shore were no longer distinguishable, and 
there was much of interest in watching the move- 
ments of other steamers that were starting at the same 
time. One of the " ocean greyhounds," as they are 
called — the steamers that drive across and through the 
water at the rate of four hundred miles a day-^passed 
them, to Harry's great disgust, soon after they left the 
bay. 



THE ASHMEADS. 21 

He consoled himself with the thought, " They will 
not get a chance to do it again this voyage.'^ 

The days sped swiftly away. The weather was 
charming, with the exception of one day near the 
" forties,'' when the sea was somewhat heavy, and the 
ship seemed to labor, without making much progress — 
" like going through a hay-mow,'' as Harry whim- 
sically expressed it. 

His father, who had been silently watching the toss- 
ing waves, called this simile a descent from the sublime 
to the ridiculous ; but to Harry, who had spent two 
summers on a farm, the figure seemed most fitting and 
appropriate. 

"Though, of course," as he confided to Mary, 
" anybody who never had to tramp hay as fast as it 
was unloaded, away back in the darkest and closest 
part of the barn, on a stifling hot summer day, couldn't 
be expected to see the sense of it." 

The petite beauties of the Isle of Wight, the inviting 
outline of the south coast of England, and the charac- 
teristic Channel scenery, with its multitude of vessels 
passing and repassing, w^ere lost to Mrs. Ashmead, 
who did not venture on deck until the vessel was 
safely within the sheltering arms of the Isles of Zee- 
land, floating with many a sharp turn and correspond- 
ing change of speed up the broad bosom of the historic 
Scheldt. 



22 THE ASHMEADS. 

On the last day, however, as she was enjoying the 
novel scenery with its long stretches of unbroken 
flatness, and its comb-like rows of trees sharply de- 
fined against the distant horizon, Mr. Ashmead came 
forward, accompanied by a gentleman, whose genial 
manner and dignified bearing gave the impression of 
one well acquainted with the world, charitably dis- 
posed towards his fellow men, and well assured of his 
own mission among them. 

^' This is Mr. Morley, of whom I spoke to you," 
said Mr. Ashmead, stooping to pick up a book which 
had slid from the chair at his wife's side. " He is 
going to stay a day or two in Antwerp, before leaving 
for Hamburg ; and he tells me it would be well worth 
while for us to spend a week or two in this city, if 
we could so arrange it." 

^' Yes/' said Mr. Morley, after having made the 
usual inquiries as to the lady's health, and having ex- 
pressed his regret that they had not been favored with 
her presence at table and on deck during the voy- 
age : " I know of no more delightful place than 
Antwerp, in wliich to recover from the effects of the 
voyage. With its quaint old buildings and historic 
associations, it is as restful, and at the same time as 
interesting, as the old city of Chester, to wdiich so 
many travelers hasten immediately on arriving at 
Liverpool. Here you have a Chester right at hand." 



THE ASHMEADS. 23 

^' I am surprised to hear that/' said Mrs. Ash mead. 
" I had the impression that Antwerp was a generally 
uninteresting, sleepy sort of a place, with no attrac- 
tions for strangers, except Ruben's wonderful picture 
and the Cathedral which contains it." 

" That certainly is the greatest of the art treasures 
preserved here/' replied Mr. Morley, " but there are 
countless other objects of interest, which are well 
worth the attention of the intelligent and cultivated 
tourist." 

" You spoke of a museum and a collection of an- 
tiquities, did you not ? " suggested Mr. Ashmead, ad- 
dressing his friend, and at the same time motioning to 
him to take a chair and sitting down himself. 

'^ Yes, the Plantin Museum and the interesting col- 
lection at the Steen, the old Castle of Antwerp, are 
among the finest tilings of their kind. The old Castle 
itself, as it now stands isolated on the broad quays 
that have recently been constructed, forms a striking 
and picturesque object. A few years ago it was sur- 
rounded and very much hidden by houses, but these 
have now been torn down in building the new quays, 
and the Castle stands out prominent and isolated, a 
striking object to meet the eye of the traveler as he 
approaches the docks." 

" Yes, there are, no doubt, museums and galleries, 
and other places of that sort," said Mrs. Ashmead ; 



24 THE ASHMEADS. 

^' but what I meant by uninteresting and sleepy was, 
that 1 have been told by friends who have passed 
through Antwerp that the houses looked as if no one 
lived in them; and, in short, that there seemed to be 
no life in the place. One of my friends, who is 
nuich interested in philanthropical work, remarked 
the absence of public institutions and libraries." 

^' Ah, I see,'' said Mr. Morley, smiling. ^' Your 
friend thought that a city might.be a little too restful, 
and he would have liked to discern signs of present, 
as well as of by-gone, human interests. Well, I do 
not know what opportunities the person of whom you 
speak had to make himself acquainted with the real, 
actual life of the city. But, I can say this, that to 
imagine Antwerp destitute of modern interest, is an 
error into which a stranger may easily fall ; and I 
would like to give you some idea of the real state of 
things in this quiet looking city." 

He then proceeded to give some account of the 
creches, or infants' homes, the Mariner's Bethel, the 
liospitals, the public gardens, the library, and other 
benevolent and popular institutions, interspersing his 
remarks with so much pleasant personal reminiscence 
and lively description, that his hearers found them- 
selves exceedingly interested, and hardly noticed the 
rapidity with which they were leaving the broad 
stretches of the river behind them, until Harry came 



THE ASHMEADS. 25 

runinng up, with Mary, followiDg him more quietly. 
His errand had been to get his father's field glasses, 
that he might through them look at the tall, slender 
shaft visible in the southeast, which they had told him 
was the spire of Antwerp Cathedral. This had dis- 
tracted his attention from the contemplation of the 
"houses built down cellar,'' as he called the towns and 
villages on the banlcs of the river, surrounded with 
their high grass-covered dykes. 

The conversation was thus broken up, and the en- 
tire group was soon engaged in scanning the distant 
horizon. 

" I never could understand why some writers have 
referred to the toppling spire of Antwerp Cathedral," 
said Mr. Morley, as he handed the glass to Mary. " It 
seems to me the most beautifully proportioned tower I 
have ever seen.'' 

" I have heard," said Mr. Ash mead, " that the lofty 
spire of St. Michael's in Hamburg is higher than the 
Antwerp spire; yet it gives nothing like the same im- 
pression of its height." 

" That is quite true. I have seen both ; not to 
mention having ascended both," said Mr. Morley ; 
" and the difference is quite as marked under both cir- 
cumstances. The Hamburg tower, Avith its broad, 
easy flights of wooden steps, does not seem half 
as difficult to the climber to ascend, as the Ant- 



26 THE ASHMEADS. 

werp tower, with its narrow, steep, spiral stone stair- 



case, 



" And then,'' chimed in Mary, " what is the use of 
beincr tall if one does not show it? I do not think it 
looks in the least toppling, either. It looks beautiful, 
and just right. Do you know how high it is?" 

^' It is higher than St. Paul's in London," replied 
Mr. Morley. " It is more than four hundred feet 
in height. St. Michael's, I think, is four hundred and 
thirty-two; which is nearly a hundred feet higher than 
St. Paul's." 

^' I wish we could see more of the city itself; it 
seems to be all spire from here," said Harry, who, to 
tell the truth, was a great deal more interested in 
Avatching the boats that they passed, than in discuss- 
ing the respective heights of towers. 

'^Oh, that must be Liefkenshoeck," exclaimed 
Mary, as they approached the last curve but one, be- 
fore reaching the docks, and noticed a band of soldiers 
emerging from a fort; *'just listen to that music; 
does it not sound romantic? It must have been just 
here that that young officer of the Prince of Parma 
was thrown unhurt across the river by the explosion 
of the fire-ship." 

"You have read Motley, and remember him too," 
remarked Mr. Morley ; and Mrs. Ashmead, who was 
making use of her return to the upper deck to observe 



THE ASHMEADS. 27 

quietly this gentleman whose name she had frequently 
heard from her husband and children when they tried 
to enliven her seclusion in her state-room, noticed the 
look of interest and respect with which he turned 
toward the bright, girlish figure beside him. 

"Yes, and I have thought how appropriate it was 
to load those fire-ships up with great stone and 
marble slabs, so that the same explosion which blew 
the Spaniards up would also provide them with tomb- 
stones." 

Mr. Morley could not help laughing at this conceit; 
and, replying in the same spirit, soon found himself 
in a lively conversation with his young companion, and 
was much interested in explaining to her the great 
changes which had of late years been made iii the 
aspect of the river front, and the wonderful growth 
of the city as a mercantile power. 

A small tug had come alongside, and the huge 
steamer soon passed between the T^te de Flanders and 
the mighty Cathedral, and was slowly warped in 
toward the dock. 

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Ashmead had been con- 
sulting together as to how much time they could 
spend in Antwerp before going on to Hamburg. 
From what Mr. Morley had said, they felt sure that 
a lengthened stay would be both pleasant and profit- 
able; but there were other considerations which seemed 



28 THE ASHMEADS. 

to reuder this impossible at present. The end of May 
was already approaching, and Mr. Ashmead had been 
sufficiently influenced by his talk with Mr. Carleton 
on the night of the reception to make him desirous to 
spend some time in visiting the more northern cities 
of Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. 

"Besides,'^ said Mrs. Ashmead, glancing in the 
direction where Mary was standing, ^Uhis Mr. 
Morley seems very pleasant and well informed ; and 
he is going on to Hamburg, you say, on " 

" Monday," replied Mr. Ashmead, completing the 
sentence. "This is Friday, and that will give us 
Saturday for sight-seeing, and Sunday to rest. But I 
see they are going on shore now ; '' and so saying, he 
went to look after the luggage. 

There was now a great deal of hand-shaking and 
hurried attempts at a few last words by those who 
had no friends to meet them; while most of those 
who were expecting friends or relatives to welcome 
them, had little time to spare in taking leave of mere 
compagnons de voyage. 

The Ashmeads were soon safely stowed in a voiture 
de place, or cab, and were rattling oiF to their hotel, 
after having received a promise from Mr. Morley to 
call for them on the following morning. 

They passed by the Porte Regia, standing at the 
entrance to the Place St. Jean, and drove rapidly 



THE ASHMEADS. 29 

down the Rue Hiiute, when Harry's attention was 
attracted by a stone tablet affixed to a tall, ancient 
looking, six storied building ; and he called to the 
coachman to halt. They stopped for a few minutes, 
and read tlie inscription, in gilt letters: '' Geboorte- 
huis Van Jacob Jordeans, KunstSehilder, 1593-1678," 
wdiich Mary's knowledge of German enabled her to 
decipher as ^'Birth-house of Jacob Jordaens, Artist." 
They looked with interest at the house in wdiich the 
celebrated painter was born. But underneath they 
saw an inscription of a very different sort, informing 
the public that this is an estaminet, and that vins et 
liquers can be obtained here, and lodgings also ; so 
that, if the visitor desire it, he may doubtless sleep in 
the very room where the great master first saw the 
light. 

*' Drive on," said Mr. Ashmead, after gazing for a 
few moments at the house. But again he consented 
to be detained as, at the end of the street, Harry's 
keen eye descried a similar inscription affixed to a 
smaller building : " Geboorte-huis Antoine Van Dyck, 
1599-1641." This also was occupied by a vender of 
Steerke Dranken, the strong drink which is one of the 
greatest curses of the fair ]and of the Belgians. 



CHAPTER III. 

FIRST VIEAVS OF ANTWERP. 

rriHE uext morning found the four travelers up 
bright and early, and assembled in the cosy 
breakfast-room. 

" How did you sleep, Mary ? '^ inquired Mrs. Ash- 
mead, helping herself, as she spoke, to one of the 
dainty little pats of delicate, saltless butter, and 
spreading half of it critically on a crisp half roll. 

" Not as well as I expected,'' replied Mary. '^ I 
had been thinking how nice it would be to sleep once 
more on terra firma; but really it seemed as if every- 
thing in my room rocked and heaved quite as much 
as the things did on board the steamer." 

In this view Mrs. Ash mead and Harry both con- 
curred. 

"And I,'' said Harry, "was almost smothered — not 
under the weight, but by the size, of a big, puffy bag 
of feathers on top of my bed. It fairly haunted me." 

"Why didn't you take it off, if it bothered you so 
much ? " asked his father, good-humoredly. 

" Oh, I didn't think of that ! " cried Harry. "Why, 

so I nn'ght ! " 
30 



THE ASHMEADS. 31 

At this they all laughed; and Mr. Ash mead went 
on with his breakfast, listening to their conversation 
with the amused smile of an old and experienced 
traveler. 

When Mr. Morley called, a conference w^as held as 
to the day's proceedings, and it was decided that Mrs. 
Ashmead and the young people should go out with 
him to do some sight-seeing. Mr. Ashmead could 
not go out in the morning, as he had some necessary 
and important correspondence to attend to. 

"Should you like to look at the Cathedral first?" 
asked Mr. Morley, as they stepped out from under the 
wide-arched porte cochere into the narrow, winding 
sweep of the Vieux Marehe au BU. On receiving a 
general assent from the little party, he added : 

" Well, then, let us turn to the left. It will be but 
a step further, and we shall thus reach the short street 
leading right up to the west front, which is much 
better than approaching it first on the side from the 
Place Verte." 

The view which they soon obtained by following 
this course amply justified Mr. Morley's statement. 
Passing down the short, slight incline of the little 
street that leads from the Vieux Marche au BU, they 
stood at the apex of the triangular space of which the 
massive west front of the Cathedral forms the base ; 
and seen from this point, the proportions of the ma- 



32 THE ASHMEADS. 

jestic building produced an effect not to be compared 
with that obtained from any other point of view. 

The contrast between the small, picturesque old 
houses^ which formed the two sides of the triangle, 
and the Cathedral itself, was marked in tlie extreme ; 
and the eye, traveling thence up the delicate tracery 
and wonderfully wrought lines of the single com- 
pleted steeple, gained an impression of amazing alti- 
tude and grandeur, simply overpowering in its 
sublimity. 

The spectators stood for some time in almost awe- 
struck silence. Even Mr. Morley, familiar as he was 
with the scene, felt strongly the indefinable fascina- 
tion whicli held them all. 

Harry w^as the first to break the spell, which he did 
in true boyish fashion. 

" I tell you, it makes a fellow's neck ache to stand 
with his head thrown back in that way. I wish I 
Avas where I could see it all without having to look 
up so." 

" But perhaps in that case you would not like it 
half as well," suggested his mother. 

" That is true," said Mr. Morley. " The steeple is 
in that way a true type of our ideals. If we get to a 
point where our ideal is no longer something to be 
looked up to, we are very apt to find that its value is 
correspondingly diminished, and that we still are in 



THE ASHMEADS. 33 

need of something higher — something hard to look 
up to/' 

" Yes, and is it not strange," added Mary, " that 
by our very efforts to render the enjoyment of any- 
thing more easy, we should so often lose half of the 
enjoyment itself?" 

Mr. Morley could not avoid giving a glance of 
hardly concealed surprise at the speaker. It was 
astonishing to him how readily this young girl en- 
tered into any train of thought started, and how aptly 
she expressed her opinions. 

Harry, however, who had merely been calculating 
how high a platform, built over the adjoining houses, 
would be necessary to give liim the point of vantage 
from which he could get the fullest view with least 
risk of a crick in his neck, did not perceive the 
relevancy of all these consequent remarks, and again 
took up his share in the conversation by calling atten- 
tion to the number of mean-looking little shops, 
which were built up against the walls of the corner of 
the south tower. 

Mr. Morley explained that these buildings, having 
been at one time permitted, still retained a sort of tra- 
ditional right to existence in such close proximity to 
the sacred edifice. 

In truth they seemed out of place, clinging around 
the base of the heavenward pointing spire, like the 



34 THE ASHMEADS. 

traces of earthly passious still clinging to some noble 
soul as it soars upward, striving to escape from their 
unholy influence. 

But the time was slipping away ; they now entered 
tiie Cathedral and viewed the interior, imposing and 
unique from its vast proportions and extreme sim- 
plicity. 

Thev lingered long in silent admiration before 
Euben's magnificent painting, " The Descent from the 
Cross,'' and then, at Mr. Morley's suggestion, they 
proceeded to the Hotel de Yille. 

Mr. Morley was acquainted with one of the chiefs 
of the departments; and, leading the way up several 
flights of stairs, he knocked at the door of a room 
situated immediately under the roof. On sending in 
his name, Mr. Morley and his party were admitted 
into the sanctum where is kept the ponderous and 
richly mounted Golden Book, in which daily, from 
the year 1866, are entered the names of distinguished 
visitors to the City of Antwerp. Here they saw the 
signatures of King Leopold, of Henry M. Stanley, 
and of many other noted personages. The courteous 
occupant of this quaint retreat called their attention 
also to the vast number of rare and valuable works 
relating to the history of the city; and finally, going 
to the deeply recessed window, he pointed out the 
Cathedral's giant form rising just across the market- 



THE ASHMEADS. 35 

place against the southern sky. After all, Harry 
had what answered very well the purpose of the 
platform in mid-air, on which he had been cogitat- 
ing; but even he was obliged to admit that the 
view, though singularly enchanting, and one with 
which not all visitors are favored, was not nearly 
as fine as the one from the little open place far 
out of sight below. 

On returning to the hotel, they found that Mr. 
Ash mead had been called out unexpectedly, and had 
left word that he would not be home till evening. 

" Oh, isn't that too bad ? " exclaimed Harry, who 
had been looking forward with pleasure to another 
excursion under his father's guidance in the afternoon. 
" We cannot go anywhere by ourselves, because we 
cannot talk French or German." 

^' Parle pour toi-meme! speak for yourself, Harry !" 
cried Mary, gayly. " Just because you wouldn't study 
Levizac and Collot, is no reason for including: everv- 
body in that helpless category. Besides, mother knows 
enough German to help us out if my French fails." 

Mrs. Ash mead shook her head somewhat dubiously 
at this statement, and turned to ask Mr. Morley if he 
could not stay to take lunch, and go out with them 
again in the afternoon. 

" I fear I must deny myself that pleasure, as I have 
made a previous engagement for this afternoon/' he 



36 THE ASHMEADS. 

replied, with such sincere regret in his tone that Harry 
whispered to his sister : 

^'I don't believe it is an importtmt engagement. 
He will stay if we all ask him. He is first rate ; he 
knows such a lot, and he can understand these people. 
I think that is a great deal harder than talking. Does 
mother really understand German ? I did not know 
it. Now there, he is saying no again. You tell him, 
Mary, that we can't get on without him." 

Marv, Avho was scandalized at the rudeness of whis- 
pering in company, and found herself flushing most 
unaccountably and uncomfortably at the idea of urging 
Mr. Morley to stay, caught at part of this speech that 
she could most easily answer, and replied aloud, with 
good-humored sarcasm : 

" No, I didn't suppose that you knew all that 
mother knows, and I'm afraid you'll never know 
anything if you don't take more pains. Why, mother 
used to read German every day, at home. Is it possi- 
ble that you have never noticed the book of German 
poetry that she reads almost every day there?" 

" Well," exclaimed Harry, '' mother must know all 
about German if she can read that. Poetry is hard 
enough to understand in plain English." 

In the laugh that followed this very prosaic re- 
mark, Mr. Morley took his departure: and as they 
went up-stairs to prepare for lunch Harry received a 



THE ASHMEADS. 87 

private lecture from Maiy, on the impropriety of 
taking advantage of the Ivindness of a stranger and urg- 
ing him to break an engagement, in order to accompany 
them in visiting places tiiat were not new to him. 

"Stuff and nonsense/' replied Harry, who with 
great pride in his sister's general wisdom could also 
display that lack of reverence for her opinion in a 
particular case which is sometimes to be remarked in 
the fraternal mind. "If the places are not new to 
him, at least he likes to hear what we say about them ; 
and I am sure that what you say is very often new to 
him. Besides he isn't a stranger now, and I believe 
he wanted to stay. He only made up that engage- 
ment because he thought it wouldn't be polite to let 
you know that he wanted to stay, and you thought it 
wouldn't be polite to let him know that we wanted him. 
People are a great deal too polite," he concluded as 
they reached his mother's room; and he flung himself 
into a chair with a comical grimace of disgust. 

" Then I am afraid that I cannot include you 
among ' people,' Harry," said his mother, with a sig- 
nificant smile as she glanced at his tumbled hair fall- 
ing over his forehead as he had pushed his hat towards 
the back of his head, forgetting in his indignation to 
take it off. "Are you going to watch us take off our 
bonnets, and then keep us waiting while you brush 
your hair and wash your hands?" 



38 THE ASHMEADS. 

Mrs. Ashmead knew that Mary could easily have 
seconded her invitation in a frank and pleasant way, 
and perhaps she also shared Harry's opinion as to 
the effect that it would have had upon Mr. Morley's 
decision ; but she lield the old-fashioned ideas that 
young girls had better err in the direction of shyness 
than of forwardness, and she was content to despatch 
Harry to his room, and thus to end the discussion. 

After lunch the three went out tos^ether, trustino^ in 
the possession of good eyes, a guide book, a map, 
Mary's knowledge of French, and Mrs. Ashmead's 
acquaintance with German. 

This time they bent their steps away from the older 
portion of the town out toward the handsome new 
boulevards in the northern and eastern part. 

Harry, who, if not very quick about books, had a 
sharp eye for almost every thing else, was amused 
with the way in which the laborers carried bricks 
where building was going on. Instead of a hod, 
each man had a narrow piece of board on which he 
piled bricks, to the number of thirty or forty, in the 
form of a pyramid. Then he shouldered it, balancing 
the front end with his hand, and mounted solemnly 
aloft. 

He was also much interested in watching the num- 
ber of dogs that were employed to draw little carts 
along the streets. Some of these seemed quite (!om- 



THE ASHMEADS. 39 

fortable in harness, and trotted along contentedly, only 
looking back ever and anon to make sure that their 
master or mistress was following, and doing his or her 
full share in the necessary matter of propulsion. 

After visiting the little park, which is so skillfully 
laid out that one can hardly realize how limited is its 
extent, they took the tramway, and enjoyed a breezy 
ride, behind a stolid Flemish horse, out to the northern 
gate of the city. They passed through the massive 
portals and over the numerous draw-bridges, out into 
the smiling country beyond. A complete and sudden 
change, such as is only to be found in the precincts of 
a walled and fortified city. 

They gazed on the huge earth- works and wide moat 
with interest; and their interest w^as increased when 
Mrs. Ashmead reminded them that they were looking 
on a series of fortifications that are considered to be 
unsurpassed by anything that modern military science 
has been able to produce. She went on to tell them 
that the moats, now only partly filled, and bearing on 
their placid and somewhat stagnant surface great 
quantities of water-lilies, could, at a moment's notice, 
be so flooded from the neighboring river as to render 
the city as inaccessible to an enemy advancing by 
land, as if situated on an island in the midst of 
the sea. 

It was growing late, however, and the declining 



40 THE ASHMEADS. 

sun warned tliem that it was time to retrace their 
steps. 

Soon after they reached the hotel, Mr. Ashmead 
also arrived ; and at the table he listened with interest 
to the account of what they had seen and done during 
the day. There was much to be told and to be com- 
mented on, and Harry was eager to excite his father's 
wonder over the electric clocks at the street corners. 
Mr. Morley had told him that there were between 
three and four hundred in different parts of the city, 
and that they worked very well, with the exception 
of slight irregularities when there was electrical dis- 
turbance of the atmosphere. 

Mary spoke with much interest of the work of a 
lady whom they had seen under the trees in the Place 
Verte distributing tracts to working-men, servant girls, 
shop boys, little street boys, and, in short, to any one 
who came forward to receive them. 

" She had several different kinds of tracts, printed 
in two or three languages ; and when any one held 
out his hand, she would ask which language he wished 
for; and she tried to give to each a tract in the lan- 
guage which he could understand. But the people 
crowded round her so eagerly, and so many hands 
were stretched out at once from all sides, that it must 
have been very difficult." 

"Yes," said Harry, '^I noticed that some even 



THE ASHMEADS. 41 

reached over her shoulder, and took them out of the 
bundle she held in her arms." 

^' I noticed, too,'^ said Mrs. Ashmead, " that though 
they crowded around and jostled each other in a way 
that seemed almost rude, it was really only the result 
of their eagerness to obtain a paper or a tract ; and 
often I saw, when one had by mistake received two 
copies of the same, he would hand one of them back, 
or give it to anotlier who had not as yet obtained one. 
We went up and spoke to her afterwards, and found 
that she was an English lady, one of the six or 
seven hundred English inhabitants of Antwerp. She 
had chosen this very effective way of doing good and 
spreading abroad the useful Christian literature pre- 
pared by the great Tract Societies." 

Mrs. Ashmead had been painfully impressed by the 
great number of small drinking-shops in the streets, 
and they had seen one of the deplorable results of 
their trade in a drunken brawl, which took place in 
front of a groggery in one of the suburbs. Harry 
remembered this vividly ; for the street-car had 
stopped most accommodatingly for some minutes, 
while both conductor and driver ran to help to sep- 
arate the wretched fighters. 

On their homeward way they had seen the prepa- 
rations for the celebration of high mass the next 
day in the open air. At the narrow end of the Place 



42 THE ASHMEADS. 

de Meir, workmen were busy erecting an altar, the 
top of which was to be as high as the surrounding 
houses. A broad flight of steps led up to the plat- 
form, above which rose a figure, designed to represent 
the Virgin Mary, facing the wide, open space where 
on the morrow, thousands of deluded people were to 
congregate to look on at a glittering theatrical spec- 
tacle, under the impression that they were thus engag- 
ing in an act of true worship. 

" Nothing," said Mary, '"' that we have yet seen, 
made me realize so distinctly that we are in a foreign 
country. Indeed, it seems to take one back into the 
Middle Ages." 



i 



CHAPTER lY. 

A CONTINENTAL SUNDAY. 

Il/TR. ASHMEAD'S ignorance concerning the work 
of tlie Baptists in Germany and in Sweden had 
been due in great measure to the carelessness into 
which truly Ciiristian people often slip in the fatigue 
and absorbing interest of travel, whether for business 
or for pleasure. It was certainly not to be ascribed to 
any deliberate intention to ignore his brethren : for he 
believed in worshiping with those of his own de- 
nomination wherever he could find them. In fact, 
he never thought of doing anything else. The snob- 
bish idea of attending any other church than his own, 
just because the other happened to be larger, hand- 
somer, more fashionably situated, or attended by more 
fashionable people, never occurred to him. If it had 
occurred to him, he would have had too much sterling 
good sense and real piety to be influenced by it. 
Fashion is one of the most empty of all empty de- 
lusions ; yet many seem to forget that it is people who 
make fashion — not fashion that makes people. If 
any one had suggested to Mr. Ashmeiid not to attend 
his own church in such-and-such a place '' because it 

is small, and in straitened circumstances, and they are 

43 



44 THE ASHMEADS. 

not very nice people anyhow," he would have replied, 
with characteristic straightforwardness : 

" It is not too small so long as I can find standing- 
room in it. By contributing our mite, the straitened 
circumstances will be so far relieved. And as for the 
people" — and now would be seen a flash in the 
speaker's eye that generally made meaner spirits feel 
rather abashed and uncomfortable — "as for the people, 
they are the Lord's people ! " 

So it happened that one of the first questions which 
Mr. Morley was called upon to answer, when he ap- 
peared on the following day at the Hotel du Grand 
Miroir, was : 

"Where is the Baptist Church ?" 

"The Baptist Church!" repeated Mr. Morley, in a 
surprised tone, adding quickly, " There is none ; and, 
moreover, I think it is exceedingly doubtful if at this 
moment there is another Baptist besides ourselves in 
all this o^reat Belo^ian citv." 

" I suppose 1 might have known that if I had only 
thought for a moment,'^ replied Mr. Ash mead. "Bel- 
gium is, I believe, one of the most exclusively Roman 
Catholic countries on the continent. I have seen, 
somewhere, a statement that out of a population of 
four or five millions, there are but sixty-six thousand 
Protestants in the whole country." 

" It does seem strange, though, that Baptists should 



THE ASHMEADS. 45 

be working witli energy, and pushing off into heathen 
countries, yet leaving this field in the very centre of 
one of the most enlightened and prosperous, though 
perhaps one of the smallest, of the European nations, 
comparatively untouched,'^ said Mrs. Ashmead. " Why 
do they not send down colporteurs from Germany, I 
wonder? They are so much nearer to Belgium than 
even England is." 

''Ah, madam," replied Mr. Morley, ^' they have as 
yet quite enougli to do in Germany, in order to supply 
the men needed for their own country. You will see 
that before we have been long in Hamburg. That 
town is the great centre from which Baptist teachers 
and preachers must come in the future to extend the 
knowledge of the truth throughout their own land, 
and over the adjoining countries. Our people at 
home ought to do what they can to strengthen the 
Baptist institutions established in the city on the 
Elbe ; and J am glad to see that some of them are 
beginning to understand the importance of so doing." 

'^But cannot they go on of themselves by this 
time?" inquired Mr. Ashmead, who had been study- 
ing up the subject carefully since his interest had 
been aroused. '' They have already had much help, 
and have now been long established. I understand 
that mission was begun fifty years ago; and it seems 
to me that it should be self-supporting now." 



46 THE ASHMEADS. 

^' It rather appears to me," said Mr. Morley, " that 
the very growth of the work is of itself one reason 
why the Baptists in Europe should not be left to go on 
by themselves. It is true, this work has grown 
largely, and has spread far and wide. I never knew 
until lately how rapid the progress has been, nor 
just how widely it has extended. I am deeply thank- 
ful for what has been done, and for the possibilities 
that I see in the near future. It would be a great 
pity if, in dealing with this question, our brethren 
should repeat the mistake of King Joash.'^ 

" What do you refer to ? '^ asked Mr. Ash mead. 

^' You remember the account of his visit to the 
dying prophet Elisha, when he was told to take a 
bundle of arrows and smite on the ground. He 
smote thrice and stayed. Elisha was wroth, and asked 
why he did not smite five or six times; for had he 
done so, he should have smitten Syria until he had 
consumed it. As he had stopped so soon, he should 
only smite Syria thrice. 

^' The moral of this narrative is, I think, plain. 
In work for the Lord, we must use vigorously the 
means that he has put into our hands ; and we must 
not pause too soon if we would not lose the fullest 
fruits of our labor.'' 

'• Well," said Mr. Ashmead, " I had not thought of 
it in that wav before. I shall feel much interest in 



THE ASH MEADS. 47 

seeing how things are going on with our Baptist 
brethren in Hamburg.'^ 

At this moment the conversation was interrupted 
by the entrance of Mary, who came to remind her 
mother and the gentlemen that it was time to go out. 

They decided to go to the English church, which is 
situated in the Rue des Tanneurs. As they walked 
along Harry noticed certain streets that were strewn 
with white sand, rose leaves, and small snippings of 
colored paper; and he asked what that meant. Mr. 
Morley explained to them that this marked out the 
route that w^as to be taken by a Roman Catholic pro- 
cession, in which the host was to be carried. 

Our American tourists were little accustomed to the 
sights and sounds in a Continental city on Sunday. 
The streets were full of pleasure seekers, the stores 
seemed to be all open, and the street cars were crowded 
with people hastening to the different pleasure resorts, 
where, as usual on the Continent, the most attractive 
programmes had been arranged for Sunday. 

They found it a great relief to turn from the noisy 
streets aud enter the doors of the quiet English 
church, where a small congregation of worshipers was 
assembled, listening to the words of truth and h)ve 
from the Holy Scriptures, joining in the responses 
prescribed by the prayer-book, and ever and anon 
mingling their voices in melodious strains of praise, 



48 THE ASHMEADS. 

supported by the solemn tones of the pealing organ. 
An hour or more passed thus in prayer and praise, the 
benediction had been pronounced, and the congregation 
was issuing from the door. 

What are tliose notes that strike so harshly and dis- 
cordantly on the ear? The loud blast of trumpets is 
heard. The street is filled with people. It is almost 
impossible to pass. In a loud tone Mr. Ash mead 
manages to overcome the surrounding uproar suffi- 
ciently to tell his little party that it is better to wait 
quietly until the procession has passed. For it was 
the processional march. The open air mass had been 
celebrated while the little congregation were quietly 
worshiping, and now down the street came the 
gorgeous spectacle. 

First came eight or ten trumpeters, followed bv 
several men in white upper garments, bearing aloft 
large banners, each of them requiring the services of 
three men, one to hold upright the heavy pole, which 
rested in a little leather pocket attached to the front 
of his surplice ; and one on each side to steady the 
pendant wings. Then came a great number of men, 
with no peculiarly distinctive dress, carrying candles, 
some of them blazing, while others had gone out, the 
holder meanwhile trudging along in blissful uncon- 
sciousness that his light was not "trimmed and burn- 
ing.'' If, however, his attention was called to the 



THE ASHMEADS. 49 

fact, it was easily remedied. He walked over to his 
nearest neighbor and got lighted up again. Some- 
times two or three would gather around, trying to 
light their candles from one which was itself almost 
extinguished — fit emblem of those who still strive to 
draw their spiritual sustenance from Rome. 

A brass band followed, which, however, was just 
at that moment resting from its noisy labors; then 
came more priests, and more candle-bearers, and more 
crucifixes, until at last came the richly ornamented 
Baldachin, under which the host was carried. This 
was preceded by three youths, walking backwards and 
incessantly swinging censers with burning incense. 
As this part of the procession approached, most of 
the spectators, a large proportion of whom were 
women, knelt down, the men reverently uncovering 
their heads. 

Tliis was the supreme moment. As the awe-inspir- 
ing symbol was borne along, the populace knelt down 
before it, and rose up behind it in one great, sweeping 
wave. Sixty men, marching in the form of a hollow 
square, brought up the rear, bearing aloft an equal num- 
ber of magnificent gold and silver lanterns. The trum- 
peters were now nearly out of hearing, having turned 
a corner of the street far in advance; the citizens took 
in the bouquets which had adorned the front of their 
houses, and blew out the candles insBsthetically fixed 

D 



50 THE ASHMEADS. 

in the very centre of the blooming flowers; little 
children ran to gather up what they could of the 
flower-leaves and pretty scraps of paper, with their 
newly acquired accession of religious associations; 
women stepped briskly past, with baskets full of long, 
stick-like loaves, each one looking like an actual staff 
of life; the shop-keeper resumed his selling, and the 
customer his bargaining, and the busy rush of life 
went on as before. 

Mr. Ashmead and his party breathed a sigh of min- 
gled relief and pity, as they turned their steps home- 
ward. Very little conversation ensued. Even the 
irrepressible Harry felt somewhat the saddening effect 
which the hollow pageant had produced on the minds 
of the older persons. 

The afternoon was spent quietly in-doors, in read- 
ing and in conversation. And in the evening, at the 
instance of Mr. Morley, they attempted a longer ex- 
cursion to the Mariner's Bethel. This is situated 
near where the northern end of the semi-circular 
sweep of the Boulevards approaches the river front. 
As the party passed the wide Avenue du Commerce, 
as the Boulevard is called at this part, they heard the 
distant shrieking of a fife ; soon the crowds began to 
grow denser, the noise of brass instruments was then 
heard, and the deep bass of a drum close at hand. 
The visitors found that again their desire to engage in 



THE ASHMEADS. 51 

quiet worship had led them iuto the very thick of a 
Continental Sunday. Tliis time, liowever, it was not 
anything under the guise of religion, but a genuine, 
out-and-out, noisy, merrymaking, quarrelsome, brawl- 
ing, giddy, distracting Flemish fair, or Ker-mess. 

The Boulevard, which was fully two hundred feet 
wide, with two road ways and a broad central walk, 
shaded by fine trees, gave ample room for the erection 
of the canvass booths that lined each side of the way, 
and vied with each other in offering their attractions 
to the thoughtless crowd. Here is a booth dedicated 
to the ^' Book of Destiny ^' where a fortune-teller plies 
his, lucrative trade. Here is another where mermaids 
are exhibited ; a third invites the passer-by to step in 
and behold the marvelous exhibition of a woman 
with her body cut off at the waist, and resting on a 
board suspended in mid-air. Several large merry-go- 
rounds are in active operation, one with four wooden 
horses in a row, and twenty of these rows, propelled 
by a dingy white horse, mysteriously concealed behind 
a dirty curtain, underneath which only his feet appear 
as he treads inside his little compartment, the Aveary 
round, which appears to be such a merry one on the 
outside to the laughino^ children and servant-maids. 
For the sum of one cent one can generally enjoy ten 
revolutions of the circle. Huge quantities of fried 
potatoes and dough-nuts were consumed in some of 



62 THE ASHMEADS. 

the booths, iu which brightly burnished metal stoves 
and pans were devoted expressly to the preparation of 
these popular ^' Delices de la Friture/^ 

There seemed to be an effort to have something of a 
religious element in the midst of the hurly-burly. 
Here was a tent bearing the title of the Inquisition, 
with far more horrors depicted on the gaudy canvass 
without, than could be seen inside, if the unsuspect- 
ing patrons had only known it. In one rather out-of- 
the-way corner, the attention of our visitors was called 
to an exhibition of ^'Les Enfers,'' — as they call the 
abode of Satan — which w^as persistently commended 
to the notice of the public by the loud-mouthed pro- 
prietor informing them repeatedly that many conver- 
sions had resulted from viewing this terrifying and 
convincing representation. 

After pushing their way through this Babel of 
sights and sounds for several squares, the party 
arrived at a neat two-story stone building, having 
over the door an open Bible with the inscription, 
" God's word.'' A lantern that was burning brightly 
showed plainly the name of the Mariner's Church and 
Institute. On entering, as they had come early on 
purpose, the chaplain had time to show them the offi- 
cers' room, with maps, pictures, and letter-box ; the 
reading-room, with papers and library; and the liv- 
ing-rooms, which he and his family occupied. 



THE ASHMEADS. 53 

" I have heard a good deal about the floating 
libraries," said Mary to Mr. Morley. '^ Do you think 
we could see any of them here?" 

^' Oh, yes I " said the chaplain, overhearing the 
question ; '^ we can show you that very easily." 

While he was opening a small closet, Harry whis- 
pered to his mother : 

^' Wliat is a floating library, any how ? '^ 

" It is a small collection of books sent on board 
a ship for the use of the sailors during their long 
voyages." 

Harry now pressed forward to see what the chap- 
lain was bringing out of the closet. It was a strong, 
plain, deep wooden box about eighteen inches square. 

^' We have shipped during the year thirty-six such 
boxes, filled with books. A ^floating library,' stowed 
away in the forecastle, is a real treasure to the sailors. 
And we have filled as many tract-bags with maga- 
zines, illustrated papers, and tracts, and placed them 
in the forecastles of sea-going ships. No one can esti- 
mate the good thus done." 

In the hall, Mary noticed a tablet erected by the 
Antwerp Society in commemoration of the heroism of 
Captain Robert Creighton in rescuing the five hun- 
dred and seventy-two passengers of the wrecked 
American ship San Francisco, in 1853. 

" Captain Creighton was the commander of the 



54 THE ASHMEADS, 

^ Three Bells/ was he notj who lies buried in the cem- 
etery at Kiel ?'' said Mr. Ashmead. " I well remem- 
ber what a profound interest was felt all over our 
country in the fate of the noble ship San Francisco, 
and the grand and humane exertions of the rescuers.'^ 
" YeSj and do you not remember the beautiful lines 
in which the poet Whittier has immortalized the inci- 
dent?'' And in a rich, subdued voice, Mary re- 
peated : 

Beneath the low-lmng night cloud 

That raked her splintering mast, 
The good ship settled slowly, 

The cruel leak gained fast. 

Over the awful ocean 

Her signal-guns pealed out. 
Dear God ! was that thy answer 

From the horror round about ? 

A voice came down the wild wind — 

" Ho ! ship ahoy ! " its cry ; 
" Our stout Three Bells of Glasgow 

Shall lay till dayh-ht hy ! " 

Hour after hour crept slowly ; 

Yet, on the heaving swells, 
Tossed up and down the ship-lights — 

The lights of the Three Bells. 



And when the dreary watches 
Of storm and darkness passed, 

Just as the wreck lurched under, 
All souls were saved at last. 



THE ASHMEADS. 55 

Sail on, Three Bells, forever, 

In grateful memory sail ! 
Ring on. Three Bells, of rescue 

Above the wave and gale ! 

Type of the Love eternal, 

Repeat the Master's cry. 
As tossing through our darkness. 

The lights of God draw nigh ! 

" Beautiful ! beautiful ! '^ said the chaplain, in a 
low tone. " I never felt so deeply those charming 
lines. Thank you." 

At this moment some persons appeared at the 
doors, and Mary gladly perceived that the congrega- 
tion was beginning to assemble. She had not in- 
tended to repeat as many lines of the lovely poem ; 
but her father's pleased smile and whispered '^Go on" 
had induced her to continue. 

They now went up-stairs to the hall. During the 
sermon, though the weather was really warm, it was 
necessary to keep the windows closed ; otherwise, the 
din outside would have prevented the words of the 
chaplain from being heard. The discourse was a 
stirring appeal, well adapted to an audience of sail- 
ors. The chaplain pointed his hearers to the word of 
God as the chart on which their safe course over life's 
ocean is clearly mapped out. 

At the conclusion, when the congregation rose to 
sing the stirring hymn, ^' Light in the darkness, sailor. 



66 THE ASHMEADS. 

day is at hand," the windows were thrown wide open, 
and the sweet notes of praise floated out on the even- 
ing air, as if in holy protest against the profaning in- 
fluence of the sounds that rose from the neighboring 
street. 

" I wished," said Harry, after they returned home, 
^' that I had a hundred voices, so that we could have 
drowned out that horrid racket, and compelled those 
people outside to listen. Anyhow, I did my best, 
and sang as loud as ever I could." 



CHAPTER y. 

AMONG FRIENDS IN HAMBURG. 

T7 VIDENTLY Harry was right in his frankly ex- 
"^ pressed opinion, that Mr. Morley enjoyed their 
society ; for on the following morning, when they were 
preparing to leave Antwerp, he was at hand to assist 
in the care of the ladies and the luggage, and also to 
render valuable service in keeping sight of Harry. 

This inquisitive young gentleman was prone to dart 
off unexpectedly during any delays. He was amus- 
ing himself thus when Mr. Ash mead had to go to take 
the tickets and see the trunks weighed. On his return 
he exclaimed hastily : 

" Now come along quickly, and I'll get good seats 
in tlie train. — Where is Harry?'' 

Mrs. Ashmead and Mary, while peering intently 
through the crowd, could only reply anxiously : 

" He was here a moment ago ; he cannot have 
gone far." 

^' I have been keeping my eye on him," said Mr. 

Morley, looking from his vantage height of full six 

feet over the heads of the people, and making a signal 

with his umbrella as he caught the boy's eye. Then, 

57 



68 THE ASHMEADS. 

taking Mary's satchel, be quickly piloted them to a 
comfortable coup6 in the train for Hamburg. 

The journey from Antwerp to Hamburg was long 
and dusty, and had it not been for the grateful noon- 
day stop at the pretty station of Wesel, the interesting 
glimpse of the city of Miinster, and the fine scenery 
during the latter part of the route, it would have had 
hardly a redeeming feature. 

^^ I am sorry that we cannot stop here for a day or 
two," said Mr. Ashmead, as they approached the an- 
cient city of Miinster. 

" Yes," replied Mr. Morley, " it does seem almost 
like a waste of opportunities to pass a city fraught 
with such associations, just as if we could visit it 
any day." 

" But, after all," said Mrs. Ashmead, from her cor- 
ner of the railway carriage, "this is what every 
traveler must do at times. And indeed it seems to 
me that it is precisely the mistaken sort of feeling to 
which you refer that spoils so many pleasure trips. 
People think that they ought to see every place of in- 
terest alono; their route. Thev trv to do so ; and the 
result generally is that they see nothing to any pur- 
pose. If their time had been spent in knowing one 
place well, it would have been turned to much better 
advantage." 

" Well, we shall have to take our parting look at 



THE ASHMEADS. 59 

the old city/' said Mr. Morley. "You can have a 
better view of it, by looking back on it, just after we 
have started." 

"'^here goes the whistle," said Harry. "The 
whistles, I mean. Just listen to them." 

And in truth they formed a singular concert. The 
conductor piped out a thrilling note on his shrill 
whistle ; the guard responded with another trill ; the 
engine shrieked like a magnified penny wliistle ; the 
guard whistled again to make sure that his in- 
strument was in good order ; the conductor trilled 
another roulade to show that he was not to be left 
behind. This was followed by a great slamming of 
doors all along the line of carriages, and they were 
ag^ain in motion. 

It began to grow cooler and more pleasant as the 
afternoon wore away. Onward sped the train, past 
the end of the Teutoberger Forest, with its masses of 
white trunked birches in striking contrast to the som- 
breness of the dark-leaved pines. 

" They suggest," said Mary, " the bleached bones of 
the host of Varus which, after their defeat by Her- 
man, were here gathered up and carried back by Ger- 
manicus, to be honored with sepulture at Rome." 

They rushed on past Osnabiirg, famous as the place 
where the peace of Westphalia was concluded ; and 
across the wide level stretches of the Luneberger 



60 THE ASHMEADS. 

Heath, with its peaceful herds of horses pasturing, 
and countless flocks of snowy geese. Still they sped 
swiftly onward, and swiftly downward hied the setting 
sun, until the last stop was made at Bremen, where 
nothing could be distinguished but the outlined form 
of houses, chimneys, and spires, against the rich yellow 
glow of the evening sky. 

As our travelers approached Hamburg, but few 
words were spoken. They were tired, it is true, but 
it was not fatigue that kept them silent. There was 
strange fascination in those long hours of the evening 
twilight, the air filled with the softened sunset glow, 
marvelously prolonged, and shedding its enchanted 
glory over the fair fields and rich pastures. It was 
one of those scenes w^rought by the subtle magic of 
the setting sun, which have ever a touching and in- 
spiring effect on the human heart, saddening perhaps 
as the memories of departed days, yet rich in the 
power of awakening and strengthening every better 
hope and higher aspiration of the soul. 

The next morning, when the party assembled in the 
breakfast-room, with its large glass windows contrived 
expressly to afford an uninterrupted view of the beau- 
tiful Alster Basin, they could hardly find words to 
express their admiration. White swans were floating 
lazily up and down on the bosom of the transparent 
water; the broad esplanade was already alive with 



THE ASHMEADS. 61 

people passing and repassing imJer the cool shade of 
the trees ; steamers were plying iiither and thither, and 
the entire scene was well calculated to excite the live- 
liest emotion of pleasure in the mind of the beholder. 

They could not, however, long be contented to 
play the part of mere spectators, and the conversation 
soon turned on the best way of employing their 
time. 

^' I wrote from Antwerp to a friend of mine who 
lives not far from this hotel,'^ said Mr. Morley, "and 

after breakfast I shall call . Why, liere he is 

now !" — and with this sudden change in the construc- 
tion of his sentence the speaker rose from the table 
and advanced to welcome his friend with warmth and 
heartiness. 

" Now,'^ said he, after introducing the new-comer, 
a middle-aged man whose every tone and gesture be- 
spoke the courteous, intelligent, and prosperous busi- 
ness man ; " now, you may feel sure that we shall 
spend our time to the very best advantage. Mr. 
Meyer knows every thing about Hamburg, including 
the suburbs, which are in many respects the most in- 
teresting part of the city ; and whatever he tells us is 
worth seeing, you may be very sure will answer to his 
description/' 

Mr. Meyer modestly disclaimed the possession of the 
all-comprehensive stock of information ascribed to 



62 THE ASHMEADS. 

him, and then proceeded to tell them of some of the 
interesting things that ought to claim their attention. 

" You wish to know about the churches, of course, 
and to visit them ; and I fear you may be disappointed, 
for here you will find us sadly modern.'' 

^^ The modern things are the best after all," put in 
Harry, in a low tone, to Mary ; " the Baptists don't 
need to be old before they are worth much." 

" I was not referring to our own churches," said 
Mr. Meyer, who caught the words and glanced with 
amused interest at this sturdy young champion. "But 
here is Mr. Morley, who can tell you all about our 
publishing house and our theological school, and all 
the special Baptist interests in our city." 

" Do you mean," asked Mary, who saw that Harry 
looked abashed and came to his rescue, " that all the 
old churches were burned in that terrible fire ? " 

" Yes, indeed," replied Mr. Meyer, and there was 
sadness in his tones, " they were swept away by that 
awful fire in 1842. You know it lasted several days, 
from Thursday to Sunday. Never can I forget that 
fifth of May, when first it broke out, and those days 
of horror which followed, when in spite of every 
effort the raging flames continued their onward march 
till they had laid in ashes a large portion of our fair 
city. But I must not sadden you with these recollec- 
tions," he continued, in a more cheerful tone. " We 



THE ASHMEADS. 63 

have worked hard since then to repair the ravages 
wrouo:ht bv the fire. Our churches have been re- 
built ; and St. Nicholas and St. Peter's are very fine 
buildings. They are in the Gothic style of the thir- 
teenth and fourteenth centuries ; but of course they 
have not that real antiquity which is so much prized 
and sought after by your countrymen.'' 

'^ So much the better, so much the better/' ejacu- 
lated Mr. Ash mead, in his quick, decided Avay. " I 
think you must sometimes feel half inclined to laugh 
at the way in which American tourists race through 
dozens of old churches, checking them oif in their 
guide books so that they may be able to remember 
when they get home how many they have seen. For 
my part, I like a church building to be suited for its 
purpose. When I went to hear Dean Stanley, in 
\Yestminster Abbey, I could not catch one connected 
sentence, not one ; and my feet were cold, and the 
place was draughty." 

^' But, my dear," interposed Mrs. Ashmead, gently, 
^' there is a charm, an indescribable influence, that I 
think we must all feel in such a place, where such 
grandeur and beauty are connected with so many 
associations of the past. I fancied," she continued, 
turning to Mr. Meyer, " that the lofty spire we 
noticed as we approached the city, could not belong 
to a new buildino^." 



64 THE ASHMEADS. 

^' No," replied that gentleman ; '' St. Michael's, it 
is true, escaped in the great conflagration. It is re- 
markable for its lofty steeple ; but then it only dates 
back to the middle of the last century." 

" Will they let us go up the tower ? " asked Harry, 
who had made a private resolution to emulate Mr. 
Morley in climbing. 

" Oh, yes ! and you will be rewarded with a splen- 
did view," replied Mr. Meyer. "You can see almost 
to the mouth of the Elbe." 

" Pray, take care what you say, ^Ir. Meyer," ex- 
claimed Mr. Ashmead. " U Harry is seized with 
the tower-climbing mania, I shall feel as though we 
were traveling with an inflated balloon. It is difficult 
enough to keep track of him, when he shoots off at 
unexpected angles on level ground ; but if he takes 
to mounting aloft at each tall tower we espy, it will be 
truly a hopeless case." 

" Never fear. I will go with him, like a sand-bag, 
to ballast him for the ascent," said Mr. Morley, good- 
humoredly; "and, meanwhile, you must look at the 
Town Library. The ladies will find much to interest 
them there, without risk of over fatigue." 

" I wish that I could go round with you and do 
the honors of our city," said Mr. Meyer. " I fully 
intended to do myself that pleasure, but I found at 
my office this morning a business-call to Berlin, which 



THE ASHMEADS. 65 

will, I fear, detain me in that city during the rest of 
the week. I believe, however, that you intend to make 
some stay in Hamburg ; and, if you will allow me to 
do a little planning for you, may I suggest that you 
visit places of interest in the city first? You will, of 
course, wish to visit the Rauhes Haus. It is a pleas- 
ant drive, only about three miles out of town. If 
you will all come next Monday, and dine with us at 
twelve o'clock, it will give us a long afternoon, and 
we can go out and visit that institution. I expect my 
daughter home the end of the week, and I shall be 
very glad to be able to introduce her to Miss Ash- 
mead." 

" That would give me great pleasure," responded 
the young lady addressed. '^ But I am afraid she 
will be shocked at my bad German." 

^' No fear of that ; and if she is, you will have a 
chance to be equally shocked at her English, though 
she has been diligently studying and practicing it for 
a year or two." 

Mr. Meyer's invitation was accepted with thanks, 
and it was decided that they should visit the Eauhes 
Haus on the following Monday. He then took his 
leave, with renewed expressions of regret that he was 
unable to accompany Mr. Morley and his friends in 
their rambles through the city. 

In the afternoon, Mr. Ashmead and his party, 



66 THE ASHMEADS. 

under the guidance of Mr. Morley, went to visit the 
head-quarters of the German Baptist Publication So- 
ciety in the thriving suburb of Borgfelde. The 
horse-car railway — Pferde Bahn, as it is here called — 
soon brouoht them within short walkino; distance of 
the place. 

Here Mr. Morley introduced them to Dr. Philipp 
Bickel, the courteous manager, by whom they were 
shown through the various departments. They 
watched the presses steadily performing their import- 
ant, yet quiet work ; they visited the bindery with its 
number of busy and skillful workers; and looked 
into the offices and other parts of the large warehouse. 

" You seem to be doing a good work here in the 
way of printing," said Mr. Ashmead. 

" Yes/^ replied the manager ; " our work goes 
steadily on, and we find that it enlarges from month 
to month. We print here six different styles of Bibles 
and Testaments, and furnish them at prices ranging 
from three cents upwards.'' 

" I see you have also large piles of the Wahrheits- 
zeuge ready to be sent out," said Mr. Morley. 

" I am glad to see such a number of these silent 
messengers," said Mr. Ashmead, laying his hand on 
one of the piles. ^' Tlie power for good that lies in the 
evangelical newspaper can hardly be over-estimated." 

"That is very true," replied the manager; "and I 



J 



^c 







THE ASHMEADS. 67 

am glad to say that we fiud that our little paper is 
doing much good in its quiet, unobtrusive mission. 
But you will perhaps be surprised to learn that there 
are those who fear its influence, and who endeavor to 
cripple its power. Look at these," — and going into the 
office he brought out several copies that had been re- 
turned from Russian and Polish post-offices, with 
whole paragraphs completely blotted out. 

" It does seem strange to us Americans to see such 
things," said Mr. Ashmead. 

" Here is something that recalls days of trial and of 
persecution," said the manager. *^ This is a picture 
of the Winzerbaum," and he pointed to a print that 
hung on the walls of the press-room. 

'^ That is the old prison," explained Mr. Morley, 
turning to Mary. " It has a peculiar interest for us 
Baptists, for Mr. Oncken was several times imprisoned 
there for preaching and baptizing during the early 
days of the Baptist work in Germany." 

" Oh, yes ! I remember hearing of that," said Mary, 
and her father added : 

" We must try to see that building. Where is it 
situated ? " 

" The pictures of the old prison are the only 
vestiges of it which now remain," replied the manager. 
" The building itself has, with many others, been re- 
cently torn down to make room for the new quays. 



68 THE ASHMEADS. 

The commerce of the city is increasing so rapidly, that 
it was absolutely necessary to build those quays." 

" By the way, I never looked at that building, and 
now I never see that picture," said Mr. Morley, 
" without thinking of the contrast between the action 
of Mr. Oncken during the great fire from INIay 5th to 
8th in 1842^ and that of the authorities of Hamburg 
on May 15th, 1843. The fire, of course, left large 
numbers of people homeless. Mr. Oncken had, a few 
days before, rented a property that fortunately was not 
reached by the flames. He gave up to the sufferers 
three floors of this building, only retaining the one 
that was used as a place of meeting for the church. 
Sixty or seventy people thus found shelter that they 
sorely needed. Little more then a year after this Mr. 
Oncken was locked up in that Winzerbaum for pur- 
suing his Christian work. But a great change has 
been wrought, and a great step has been taken to- 
wards religious freedom since that day ; and great 
thanks are due to Dr. Oncken and to the Baptists for 
the victory of the truth and the right." 

Occasionally going out by themselves, but generally 
under Mr. Morley's guidance, the days passed very 
pleasantly for the Ashmeads. Harry's zeal for climb- 
ing inclined him to look with contempt at any views 
that could be obtained from an ordinary level. 



THE ASHMEADS. 69 

If left to his management their excursions would 
have included every lofty pinnacle in the city; but 
Mr. Morley represented to him that it would not be 
very good manners always to plan fatiguing excur- 
sions, in which the ladies would certainly decline to 
accompany them. 

" Oh, well ! father will escort them/^ replied Harry ; 
'' he likes better going about in a quiet way to see 
something instructive. They are all going to the 
Library to-morrow ; but you have seen it, and I don't 
care to look at a lot of books." 

" What would you say to a tombstone with an ass 
playing the bag -pipe carved ou it?" asked Mr. 
Morley, somewhat irrelevantly, apparently. 

Harry laughed, and looked at his companion in 
puzzled surprise. 

"Oh ! I am not joking," Mr. Morley assured him. 
" I have seen it. It is a relic of the old Cathedral 
that used to stand where the Johanneum now stands. 
If you come with us to-morrow, you can see it your- 
self in the Museum on the ground floor, while the 
ladies are looking at the Library above.'' 

Mr. Morley's skillful ruse succeeded ; and Harry, 
with aroused curiosity, agreed to accompany them 
when they visited the Public Library at the Johan- 
neum. 

There, at tlie end of the large quadrangular court, 



70 THE ASHMEADS. 

they gazed with interest at a fine statue which had 
been just completed, but was still partially screened 
from view. 

^' That is a statue of Bugenhageu," said Mr. Morley. 

" He was one of the Reformers, was he not ? '^ 
asked Mrs. Ash mead. 

"Yes, Pommeranius, as he is often called, from the 
place of his birth. He and Melancthon were Luther's 
most active assistants in establishing and confirming 
the noble work of the Reformation." 

"But why are they thus setting up his statue 
just now?'' inquired Mr. Ashmead. 

" The four hundredth anniversary of his birth is 
approaching. He was born in June, 1485, and the 
event will be celebrated by the unveiling of this 
statue, with appropriate ceremonies, and by special 
services which are to be held in the churches," replied 
Mr. Morley. " And now, if you please, we will go 
on into the Library." 

When they entered the Library, Mr. Ashmead 
began looking over the catalogue of books with Mr. 
Morley, to obtain some general idea of the character 
of the volumes. He was interested in noting that the 
collection of works on Baptist history and principles 
was very extensive. And among them were several 
works by well-known American writers. 

Meanwhile Harry had ample time to investigate 



THE ASHMEADS. ' 71 

the Museum of Hamburg antiquities, and to make 
the acquaintance of the musical ass so oddly figuring 
on the tombstone. He came to the rest of the party 
in the Library with various hieroglyphio marks that 
he had roughly scratched on the back of an old 
envelope, hij usual substitute for a note book, and 
requested a translation of the inscription on this ex- 
traord i nary stone. 

^'I don't know where they could find any text in 
the Bible to suit, unless it is something about Balaam's 
ass," he remarked, as he showed the paper to his 
mother. 

" Oh, no ! they had at least the grace not to mix up 
the sacred with the profane," said Mrs. Ashmead. 
" This is not a text of Scripture." 

" No, I remember it," said Mr. Morley, coniing 
to her assistance, as she puzzled over the German, 
which was made more difficult for her by Harry's 
hasty scrawl. It only says, * The world is turned 
upside down ; and therefore I, poor ass, have learned 
to pipe.' " 

^' Do you suppose that any irreverence was in- 
tended ? " asked Mary, as at Harry's suggestion they 
all went down to the Museum. 

^' Very likely not," replied her father. *^ Many of 
these old inscriptions and pictures seem laughable to 
us, but really were intended to be solemn enough. 



72 THE ASHMEADS. 

Were you ever in tlie Chapter House of Salisbury- 
Cathedral ? ^' he asked, turning to Mr. Morley. 

^' Yes, and I believe I know what you are thinking 
of," replied that gentleman, — " those odd representa- 
tions of Biblical scenes all around on the wall just 
above the seats. The murder of Abel was, I think, 
the most extraordinary. Imagine,'^ he said, turning 
to Mary, " the figure of Abel kneeling patiently while 
Cain standing behind him plants one foot on AbePs 
back to steady himself, while he raises a sort of pick- 
axe preparatory to operating on his brother's head, as 
if it had been a large lump of coal." 

" I suppose a thousand years from now people will 
be laughing at our pictures and writings, just as we 
laugh at these old things," remarked Harry, sagely. 

*' Oh, no ! because we are more true to nature," 
replied Mary. 

" Are we ? " asked Mr. Morley, who always liked 
to draw out Mary's replies. 

" No ; she is all wrong, Mr. Morley," chimed in 
the irrepressible Harry. *^I've seen those instanta- 
neous photographs of horses and dogs and cows run- 
ning and jumping, with their legs all- tangled up or 
sticking out like wooden pegs. That is just what 
people will put in their pictures after a while ; and 
they will laugh at our paintings, and call them quite 
unnatural." 



THE ASHMEADS. 73 

" Macaulay's New Zealander will come to pass 
judgment ou the artistic knowledge of a dead and 
gone race/' said his sister, merrily. 

But Harry was not quite clear in his own mind 
who this famous New Zealander was; so he willingly 
dropped the conversation, and was content to use his 
eyes for a time, and to let his tongue have a little 
unwonted rest. 



CHAPTER yi. 



f\^ the appointed day Mr. Ashmead and his party 
^^ were punctual to their engagement at Mr. 
Meyer's house on Friedrich Strasse, and received a 
^Yarm and hospitable welcome from the family party, 
which consisted of the host himself; his wife, a thor- 
ough German, who knew nothing of English, either 
good or bad, but a great deal about good housekeep- 
ing, and not a little about German literature and art ; 
the daughter, a pleasant, intelh'gent girl, with a real 
talent for languages, as Mary soon found wiien she 
engaged her in conversation ; and an elder brother of 
Miss Meyer's, a student in a medical college in Amer- 
ica, who was spending his vacation at home. 

The first thing that Mr. Meyer asked of Mary was: 
" Have you been to see Klopstock's grave ? " 
" Indeed we have," was the reply. *' We went out 
to Ottensen on purpose to visit it. But the day was 
very unfavorable; the clouds seemed to think it neces- 
sary to shed tears on the occasion. In fact, it just 

poured.'^ 

74 



THE ASHMEADS. 75 

" I am very soriy. But what did you tliiuk of tlie 
inscriptions, or did the rain prevent you from staying 
to read them ? " inquired Miss Meyer, in perfect Eng- 
lish, notwithstanding a slight foreign accent. 

*' We had some difficulty in making theui out, on 
account of the strange style of lettering," said Mary ; 
*' but when we had succeeded in deciphering them, we 
could hardly avoid smiling.'^ 

" Why, what was so singular about them ? " in- 
quired the young man, w4io, as is often the case with 
people wdio live in a place, did not know as much 
about his native town as strangers did. 

'' In the first place, you must know that papa made 
a mistake, and bestowed all his wonder and admira- 
tion on the first grave to wdiich he came. With great 
reverence and in an awe-stricken tone he began to say, 
'So here lies all that was mortal of the great and 
gifted poet.' But lie changed his tone when we called 
his attention to the fact that he was standing before 
the tomb of Victor Ludwig Klopstock, and not that 
of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, which is somewhat 
farther on." 

" But the inscriptions on the grave-stones of the 
poet's two wives — what did 3^ou think of them ? " 
said Miss Meyer, after Mr. Ash mead had hurriedly 
explained that it was only the illegibility of the in- 
scription which caused his mistake. 



76 THE ASHMEADS. 

'^ Oh, they are very strange ! " cried Mary. ^' One 
bears the name and date of birth of his first wife, 
Margarita, who, in the words of the inscription, 
' awaits him there where death does not enter/ And 
the other bears in a similar way the name and date of 
birth of his second wife, wlio is stated to have been 
* Meta's darling, like her in heart and mind ; and she 
also awaits him/ " 

" It does seem like a piece of uncalled-for irony to 
have put on record the fact that the second wife was 
at one time the first wife's darling,'^ said the young 
man, who mentally decided to make, some day, a pil- 
grimage to this singular shrine. 

" Perhaps," replied Mary, "it was considered all 
the more needful to call attention to the fact of the" 
second wife's former claim on Meta's affection, in 
view of the extreme probability of her having for- 
feited all claim to it in future." 

" Oh," said Mrs. Meyer, on the conversation being 
interpreted to her, " the children do not know what 
they are talking about; but they must have their fun, 
I suppose." 

The conversation ran rapidly from one subject to 
another, as general conversation is apt to do. Much 
of the attention of the host and hostess was naturally 
taken up in explaining to their guests from across the 
water, the thousand and one little customs which im- 



THE ASHMEADS. 77 

pressed them as strange and different from those to 
which they were accustomed. 

Harry, who was much interested in dogs, wanted to 
know more about tlie dogs which they saw so gener- 
ally used as draught animals. 

" He has been observing narrowly the way in which 
they are harnessed,'' explained Mary, " and is only 
sorry that he had not seen these ingenious and simple 
little sets of harness some years ago, when he was 
laboring over the problem of attaching a little cart to 
Kover's burly and shaggy form. Rover could not 
have resisted the proceeding more stoutly if it had 
been a matter of attaching a tin can to his tail." 

" I notice one thing about it," said Mr. Ashmead; 
^^ we do not see as many dogs drawing carts here as in 
Belgium." 

" An effort is being made to regulate, and if possible 
to suppress the custom," replied Mr. Meyer. "There 
are not more than twenty used now for a hundred 
that were formerly employed. There is a regulation 
by which the owners are obliged to carry mats for 
them to lie down on, and blankets to protect them in 
bad weather; but of course this rule is often evaded. 
On the whole, the poor dogs have really a dog's life 
of it." 

" Why, I should think they would be petted and 
taken the greatest care of; they seem to draw so well," 



78 THE ASHMEADS. 

said Hany, who kuew well how kindly disposed he 
would have felt towards Rover, if that sagacious 
animal had only consented to pull a little cart, like 
those Hamburg dogs. 

^'Ah, it is very seldom that they get any petting, 
and they die by the hundred from exposure and 
hard work. But I hope to see the entire custom 
done away with before long," said Mr. Meyer. " We 
ought to do away with it entirely ; it is put down in 
Copenhagen." 

Mrs. Ash mead was succeeding better than she had 
dared to expect in conversation with their hostess, and 
had brought up the subject of the daily papers. She 
said she had some difficulty in findino- the regular 
sheet of one journal ; there were so many " beilages," 
or supplements. 

"Yes!" replied Mrs. Meyer. "Many of the 
papers publish one or two supplements. People can 
buy any of them separately. Often three or four 
people subscribe to one journal and take turns in 
reading it. One gets it at seven o'clock, the next at 
nine, and the third the next morning." 

" I should think it would cause a good deal of dis- 
cussion to decide who should have it first," said Mrs. 
Ash mead. 

"Oh, no !" was the laugliing reply; "that might be 
the case in your fast country ; but here, you know, we 



THE ASHMEADS. 79 

are slow and sedate. We appreciate the advantage 
that the one who gets it last has, for he is not hurried 
in its perusal." 

" Yes, indeed," said Mr. Morley. " I found that out 
once when I was staying with one of my English 
friends at his country house. I wanted to see if a 
certain steamer had arrived, and I asked my host to 
permit me to look at the Times, which had arrived a 
few minutes before. ^ Oh ! ' he exclaimed, ^ I wish 
you had spoken two minutes sooner. Old Mr. Main- 
waring has just gone into the library. I will send 
one of the children to see if he has got hold of the 
paper.' I protested that ten minutes later would do 
just as well. Little did I imagine that the worthy old 
gentleman would sit for two whole hours, diligently 
conning every word. Then he dropped asleep with 
the paper in his hand, and it was only when our host's 
wife skillfully purloined it, without awaking him, that 
any one else had a chance to glance at it." 

In the merriment and lively chat that followed, Mr. 
Morley managed to slip out of a discussion on politics 
which had absorbed the gentlemen, and Mrs. Ash mead 
noticed that most of his conversation until they rose 
from the dinner was either directly addressed to Mary, 
or of a nature to attract lier attention. She was there- 
fore not greatly surprised tliat, when it was proposed 
to divide into two parties for the afternoon, Mr. 



80 THE ASHMEADS. 

Morley offered his services as escort to the young 
people. 

Mr. Ashmead and herself were going with Mr. 
and Mrs. Meyer to the ^' Rauhes Haus ; '^ but Miss 
Meyer had taken possession of Mary, saying : 

" We will take your brother as escort, and wander 
about at our own sweet will to any place you care to 
see in the town.'' 

" It is not fair," Mr. Morley remarked, pleasantly, 
"that Harry should monopolize two ladies; and I beg 
you will add me to the guard of honor." 

" Very well," said Mr. Ashmead. " Harry will 
take care of the girls, and you will take care of Harry. 
But I warn you that your one charge will need more 
\vatching^ than both of his." 

Mr. Ashmead had found that he knew some of Mr. 
Morley's relations, and the more he saw of the gen- 
tleman himself, the better he liked him. Notwith- 
standing his very keen sense of danger in allowing 
Mr. Gifford's visits, it did not seem to occur to him 
that Mr. Morley might be equally dangerous ; and 
his wife did not wish to vex his mind and to disturb 
his enjoyment of a congenial companion by any vague 
surmises. 



CHAPTER yil. 

VISIT TO THE RAUHES HAUS. 

A PLEASANT ride on the '' Pferde Bahn/' or 
horse-car railway, soon brought Mr. Meyer and 
his party within a short walking distance of the 
Rauhes Haus. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ash mead were hardly prepared for 
the sight which here presented itself to them. The 
name, Eauhes Haus (the Rough House), had suggested 
the idea of a rough, though perhaps a large, house. 

^' Indeed, it was but a very rough and small farm- 
house," replied Mr. Meyer, to whom they expressed 
their surprise, " when Wichern and his mother entered 
it, on November 1 st, 1 833. By the close of that year 
they had received twelve boys, and the house could 
contain no more. But Wichern began his work in 
prayer and faith, and now you will see to what it has 
grown." 

Turning in at a neat gateway, they found them- 
selves walking through well-kept grounds of large ex- 
tent, planted here with vegetable and other small 

crops, there devoted to flowers and shrubs, and in 

F 81 



82 THE ASHMEADS. 

other places laid out in smooth, well-cared-for lawns; 
while dotted here and there over the smilins; land- 
scape were the various buildings, private and public, 
devoted to dormitory, industrial, living, and school 
purposes. 

Passing around the picturesque fish pond, our party 
stopped at the head-quarters, where, after a short de- 
lay, one of the older pupils came to show them over 
the grounds. Most of the teachers were away on a 
short leave of absence. 

On the walls of the office he pointed out the por- 
traits of several of the patrons of the institution, and 
especially that of Mr. Sieveking, whose gift of the 
land and the old house, in 1833, first rendered possi- 
ble the carrying out of Mr. Wichern's cherished pro- 
ject. The lad remarked that they had probably 
noticed opposite to the entrance the handsome resi- 
dence and beautiful grounds which are still in the 
possession of the Sieveking family. 

They were then taken through the large and com- 
paratively new, two-story building, devoted to carpen- 
ter and locksmith work, and were much pleased with 
the general air of industry and order which seemed to 
prevail. 

As they were walking on through the grounds to 
visit another of the buildings, Mrs. Ashmead ex- 
pressed a desire to know more about the origin of 



THE ASHMEADS. 83 

such an admirably conducted establishment, and what 
first gave the idea of such a work to Dr. Wichern. 

^' To begin with the beginning," replied Mr. Meyer, 
" I must tell you that its founder, Johann Heiurich 
Wichern, w^as a native of Hamburg. He was born 
in our city on the 21st of April, 1808. He studied 
theology at Gottiugen, and after passing his examina- 
tion in theology at Hamburg, in 1831, he became a 
teacher; and he also undertook the charge of a Sunday- 
school in the service of the German Home Mission 
Society." 

*' I did not know that there were any Sunday- 
schools in Germany so long ago," said Mrs. Ash mead. 
" I thought they had only recently adopted the idea." 

"They had just been started," replied Mr. Meyer, 
" and it is an interesting fact that Dr. Wichern, the 
founder of this work which has assumed such mag- 
nificent proportions, received the idea originally while 
laboring in a Sunday-school, organized by our honored 
brother. Dr. Oncken, in St. George, which you know 
is a suburb of Hamburg. This was the first Sunday- 
school in Germany." 

" Here is the ^ Anker Haus '; will you enter ? " said 
their guide. 

" Certainly," replied Mr. Meyer ; and turning to 
Mrs. Ashmead, he added, " we will resume our con- 
versation on our way home." 



84 THE ASHMEADS. 

They ascended first to the dormitories in the upper 
story, and noticed with satisfaction the completeness 
and excellence of the arrangements for ventilation 
and for heating. Down-stairs, they looked into the 
recitation rooms, and the room where each boy has his 
desk and a few books. At the end of the room was 
liang^inor a laro'e bird-caoje, containiuQj several finches 
and other feathered songsters. 

" This," said Mr. Meyer, who was evidently well 
acquainted with the working of the Institution, ^' is 
one of the recently erected buikiings. The funds for 
building it, which came from Schleswig Holstein, were 
provided on a liberal scale, so that this house might 
be a kind of model in its way. All its arrangements, 
as you have seen, are admirable." 

" Do you know how many pupils are in the Insti- 
tution?" inquired Mr. Ashmead. 

*'The total number of inmates," replied Mr. 
Meyer, "is about three hundred and fifty, and there 
are about ten teachers. The pupils are divided into 
five or six families, and each of these is under the 
charge of one of the older pupils." 

** What do you consider as the chief object of this 
Institution?" asked Mrs. Ashmead. 

" The main and primary object," said Mr. Meyer, 
" is certainly to afford a refuge for morally neglected 
children ; to this has now been added the furnishing 



THE ASHMEADS. 85 

of a boarding school for children of the higher 
classes ; and thirdly, the training of those who wish 
to fit themselves to act as teachers and officers in other 
public institutions." 

^' The children are allowed to have pets, I see," said 
Mr. Ashmead, as they passed a boy who was feeding 
his rabbits. 

" Yes," said Mr. Meyer, *^ all harmless and rational 
amusements are encouraged ; and when a boy's birth- 
day comes round, if his relations send him eatables or 
other presents, he is allowed to have a table to himself, 
on which these are all spread out, and on it are placed 
as many candles as he has had birthdays." 

" That is rather a singular custom," said Mrs. Ash- 
mead. " I see every effort is made to keep up a home 
feeling in the pupils, and I think it is an excellent 
plan." 

In the school rooms they noticed, posted up con- 
spicuously, many practical bits of advice and pointed 
proverbs, such as: 

Pleasure in doing things aright, 
Makes both trouble and labor slight. 

One was in Latin — the curt sentence : 

Aut disce, aut discede. 
Either learn, or depart. 

In the new guard-house, where the gymnastic ex- 



86 THE ASHMEADS. 

ercises are also carried on in bad weather, they saw 
such couplets as: 

Come and go, and joyful be, 
Without, within, God keepeth thee. 

Godly heart, goodly art. 

This room was handsomely ornamented with paint- 
ing's and frescoes, done by the pupils. It contained 
one hundred and fifty fire-arms, presented by a Prus- 
sian prince, as a token of the satisfaction he felt with 
the manner in which the school w-as carried on. 

They afterwards visited various other buildings — 
the laundry, the bakery, the hospital, the book-bind- 
ing and printing office, and the chapel. 

In the Old Rauhes Hans, they saw hanging up, 
the old cap of the original owner of the house — a 
man named Ruges, from which the building is said, 
by a slight change, to have taken its name. 

Dr. Wichern began his life-w^ork with the care 
of three poor boys; the work grew under his hand, 
and increased wonderfully. He little imas^ined, when 
he began, the extent and importance of the work. 

During the first fifty years, eighty-nine brothers 
have gone from this training-school, to accept 
positions in similar institutions. At the present 
time, there are one hundred and sixty-four houses 
of refuge in the German Empire, in which five 



THE ASHMEADS. 87 

thousand, five hundred and eighty-seven children 
are yearly educated and cared for. 

Just as our party had left the grounds, and were 
about to turn their faces homewards, their attention 
was attracted by the sound of singing. On looking 
down the green country lane, they saw a large body 
of the boys belonging to the institution, coming back 
from their bath. They were marching in ranks four 
or five abreast, and shouting a not unmusical measure, 
which served the double purpose of marking time for 
their steps, and of preventing any disorderly talking 
or laughing. 

"An institution like this is an excellent way of 
settling the ^ tramp' question,'^ remarked Mr. Ash- 
mead, as they were on their homeward way. "I am 
a firm believer in the old saying, *An ounce of pre- 
vention is better than a pound of cure.' There are 
a great many ounces of prevention here ; but on each 
of these boys much more than a pound of cure 
might be utterly useless, if they were left to them- 
selves until they were five or ten years older." 

" That is very true,'' replied Mr. Meyer ; " but as 
we cannot bring back to boyhood those who have 
already grown to be men, we find that we must also 
try the pound of cure. And you will find this in our 
Arbeiten Colonien, of which there are eleven in dif- 
ferent parts of the Empire." 



88 THE ASHMEADS. 

"What is their object?" asked Mr. Ashmead. 
"Are they places to which traaips can be sent?'' 

" Their object is to give work, shelter, food, cloth- 
ing, and encouragement generally to men who wish to 
get work and to return to a reputable way of life. 
What you call ^ tramps ' in America have little chance 
to thrive here." 

As he spoke he pointed to one of the houses they 
were passing, on which was a little metal plate with 
the inscription, "Member of the Society Against 
Mendicity." 

Mrs. Ashmead had noticed these little plates on 
many of the houses, and she now asked : 

" What is done with tramps here ? " 

"They are sure to be arrested," replied Mr. Meyer. 
" Here is where Arbeiter Colonien prove very bene- 
ficial. A man w^ill generally prefer to enter one of 
these colonies, rather than to be sent to the common 
jail ; and it often proves the beginning of a thorough 
reformation for the former tramp." 

" A reformation for tramps ! Pray let us hear 
about that, for this boy is the most incorrigible tramp 
I have yet met with," said a familiar voice behind 
them; and at the same moment Mr. Morley and the 
two young ladies joined them, while on looking back 
they saw Harry emerging from the cross street, out of 
which the rest of his party had just turned. 



THE ASHMEADS. 89 

" There/' exclaimed Miss Meyer, merrily, to the 
boy as he came up. '' I told you that the others 
would be home before us, and you were sure that they 
would not be back for an hour yet/' 

'^ They may get home before you, but not before 
me," retorted Harry, darting forward at a brisk pace 
towards Mr. Meyer's house, which they were now ap- 
proaching. It was a convenient way of taking him- 
self oiF, just as he had been proved to be mistaken ; 
but no one contested the race with him. The rest of 
his party were rather tired with the amount of walk- 
ing and sight-seeing that they had done, and Mrs. 
Meyer insisted that they must come in and rest for at 
least a few minutes before returning to their hotel. 

As soon as they entered the parlor young Mr. 
Meyer appeared, nothing loath to have a little chat 
with the bright young American girl. His residence 
in America had enabled him to become tolerably 
fluent in English conversation, and he meant to ask 
permission to walk back to the hotel with her when 
the party left ; but here he found himself forestalled 
by Mr. Morley. That gentleman quietly took up his 
own hat and Mary's shawl, as soon as Mrs. Ash mead 
rose to take leave of their kind hosts; and it was very 
evident that he had no intention of losing sight of the 
owner of the shawl. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A DAY UNDER MR. MORLEY's ESCORT. 

rpHE next day Mrs. Ash mead was obliged to rest, as 
-■- she dreaded an attack of her old enemy, nervous 
headache, that frequently came on after any unusual 
fatigue. Mary immediately announced her intention 
of staying with her mother ; but Mrs. Ashmead would 
not agree to this. 

^•' We are going on so soon to Sweden, that you 
must not lose a whole day in Hamburg. Go with 
your father and Harry, my dear," she said. ^' I need 
nothing but rest and quiet." 

Yielding to her wishes, the three went out together. 
Mrs. Ashmead after a little while composed herself 
to rest, and indeed fell asleep; for she opened her eyes 
to find the afternoon well advanced, and to see her 
husband quietly sitting by the window, reading. 

" Ah, you have had a good nap, that's just the thing 
to set you up ; and now I will ring, for I promised 
Mary that I would see that you had something nice to 
eat," he remarked, cheerfully. 

^' Where is Mary?" Mrs. Ashmead asked, rather 

perplexed. 
90 



THE ASHMEADS. 91 

" Miss Meyer came a little while ago to invite us to 
tea, and to propose a walk to the cemetery afterwards. 
She thouglit Mary would like to see Dr. Oncken's 
grave ; so I told them all to go together and I would 
come back and take care of you/^ was the reply. 

"Was that quite safe, my dear?" expostulated his 
wife. " You know Harry is so heedless, and with 
only two young girls they may lose sight of him or 
get into some trouble.'^ 

"Never fear; Morley was going with them, and I 
could trust him to manage a dozen boys," replied Mr. 
Ashmead, confidently. "Now what will you have?'' 

Mrs. Ashmead agreed, in rather an absent-minded 
fashion, to whatever her husband chose to order, for at 
the mention of Mr. Morley her thoughts flew to Mary 
rather than Harry. 

Meanwhile the party of young people were passing 
their time very pleasantly. After tea Miss Meyer had 
taken them, as she proposed, to the cemetery in the 
northern part of Hamburg, where Dr. Onckeu was 
buried; and Mary was, as usual, improving the oppor- 
tunity to gain information from Mr. Morley. 

"How many Baptists are there now in Germany?" 
she asked, as they stood before the grave of Dr. 
Onckeu. 

"In round numbers, one might say twenty thou- 
sand," replied Mr. Morley. 



92 THE ASHMEADS. 

" But the Baptist work begun here in Hamburg, 
in 1834, with one little church of sev^en members, 
has spread beyond the German Empire, has it not ? '^ 

" Yes, indeed," said Mr. Morley. ^^ It has extended 
into Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Russia. In 
the Russian Empire there are now three Associations 
— the North Russian, the South Russian, and the 
Polish. The whole number of members connected 
with the German Baptist Union was about thirty 
thousand last year." 

" What a grand harvest this is to have grown in 
fifty years from the small seed planted here in Ham- 
burg, and cherished and nurtured by one man ! " said 
Mary, enthusiastically. 

^' That, however, grand as it seems to be, cannot be 
said to be all of the harvest," Mr. Morley added. '' The 
work that you will find going on so successfully in 
Sweden may be justly regarded as a part of the 
harvest. Mr. Nilsson, the pastor of the first Baptist 
Church in Sweden, was baptized in Hamburg. The 
five other members of that church w^ere baptized by 
Mr. Foerster, a Baptist minister who was sent from 
Hamburg for that purpose. Mr. Andreas Wiberg, 
who has labored so long and so successfully in 
Sweden, was baptized by Mr. Nilsson at Copenhagen, 
when he was pastor of the church there that originated 
from Hamburg. 



THE ASHMEADS. 93 

^^ It is a wonderfully iuteresting history, when you 
come to trace the way in which the good work spread 
and was blessed. And it has grown with very great 
rapidity too. Let me mention one thing, to show that 
you may well say it is a grand liarvest to have grown 
in fifty years from the small seed planted here in 
Hamburg. Have you any idea, Miss Ashmead, how 
many Baptists there were in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania last year ? or, how long it is since the first 
Baptist church was planted there? '' 

^'I must confess that I have no clear idea on 
either point,'^ said Mary. "I only know that they 
have a very large number of churches, ministei's, 
and members. Of course with such a great number 
they must have been growing for very many years.'' 

"Yes, they have now been growing ever since 
1688, one hundred and ninety-six years; and they 
have had no State Church to oppose them, and no 
civil persecution to hinder their growth. As a re- 
sult they had, at the end of last year, a little more 
than sixty-eight thousand members. Now, compare 
with that the growth of the German Baptist Union 
and the Swedish Baptist Union. They have been 
growing only fifty years, with great hindrances, and 
often cruel persecutions; but at the end of last year, 
they had fifty-seven thousand members. 

" Why, I am astonished ! " cried Mary. "I had 



94 THE ASHMEADS. 

not the remotest idea that there was such a grand 
liarvest as that." 

^' And I," said Miss Meyer, " should have thouglit, 
if I had thought about it at ail, that in your country, 
especially in such an old and prosperous State as 
Pennsylvania, the Baptists would have grown much 
more rapidly than they could possibly hope to do 
here." 

" These are the facts, however," said Mr. Morley, 
"and I think that the American Baptist Missionary 
Union may well be thankful that it was allowed 
to plant the seed of such a harvest in Germany; 
and the American Baptist Publication Society may 
consider it a high honor, that to it was given the 
privilege of planting the same seed in Sweden, and 
seeing its fields white, with a like precious harvest." 

" I am very, very glad," said Mary, looking at 
the tombstone of Dr. Oncken, with deep emotion, 
"that I have heard this, and heard it too in this 
sacred spot. I am glad and thankful too that no 
worldly display marks the resting-place of the serv- 
ant of God, to whom his Lord gave the high honor 
to be the pioneer in this work." 

"Yes," said Mr. Morley, "only the neat tomb- 
stone, with the simple inscription, as you see: 'Jo- 
hann Gerhart Oncken, born January 26, 1800, died 
January 2, 1884,' with the addition of the verse. 



THE ASHMEADS. 95 

from Epli. iv. 5, ^One Lord, one faith, one baptism,' 
and that from Acts ii. 42, *They continued stead- 
fastly in the apostle's doctrine, and fellowship, and 
in breaking of bread, and in prayers/ This seems 
much more suitable, and in accordance with the 
plain, sterling. Christian virtues of the great and 
good man." 

"And there," said Mary, "is another smaller stone 
somewhat in advance of the other. Whose is that?" 

" That is Dr. Oncken's son-in-law, Carl Schauffler, 
who, as you see, was born in 1819, and died in 1871. 
He was for many years Dr. Oncken's right hand man 
and chief manager." 

" The larger stone bears two other names besides 
Dr. Oncken's — Sarah Oncken and Philip Oncken. 
He was only a child," said Mary, as she read the 
dates. 

" Yes," said Mr. Morley, " he was, if I remember 
aright, burned to death by a terrible accident, wdieu 
only eight years old." 

They turned to go, after depositing on the grave 
the modest tribute of a few fragrant flowers. 

"The monuments and grave-stones are of exceeding 
variety of form and design, are they not?" said 
Mary. 

" Yes ; but I think the favorite device seems to be 
an open Bible." 



96 THE ASHMEADS. 

" Why do they have so many chairs and benches 
in the plots ? " asked Harry. 

" That is for the accommodation of the relatives 
who often, according to an old custom, come to pass 
the whole day in lamentation and mourning when a 
death occurs in the family.'' 

Mary was struck by the apparent great extent of 
the burying-ground; but was told by Miss Meyer that 
there were really at the place six large cemeteries, all 
close together. 

" What shall we do now ? " said Harry, who, to 
tell the truth, had not been exceedingly interested in 
this part of their excursion, and would much rather 
have spent the time in the Zoological Garden just 
over the way. 

"You want some exercise, I suppose," said Mr. 
Morley; "something that will stretch your limbs, 
and give you some climbing to do. Well, let me 
see ; we have been to the Petri Kirche." 

" Which one was that ? " said the boy. 

" Oh, Harry, do you not remember the picture of 
Luther, and the inscription, * Magnus non est cui 
Martinus Luther non est magnus^f^^ 

"That? Yes, I remember. What was it Mr. 
Morley said it meant? That no one w^as great if 
Martin Luther was not ? '' 

" No, no ; not exactly that," interposed Mr. Morley, 



THE ASHMEADS. 97 

laughing somewhat at the free translation. "Great 
is he not to whom Martin Luther is not great." 

" I knew it was something of that kind," said 
Harry. " Well, we've seen that ; what else is there 
to look at?" 

" Suppose we go and ascend the tower at St. 
MichaePs Church," said Mr. Morley. "We shall 
have a fine evening view, and you can hear the man 
play the chants too." 

" Oh, the man we heard playing last Sunday, when 
we were on our way to the Baptist Chapel in Bohmken 
Street? " cried Mary. " Yes, that would be very inter- 
esting." 

" And then we can see the outside, at least, of the 
house where Mendelssohn was born. You are fond 
of music, are you not. Miss Ashmead?" said Miss 
Meyer. " The house is in Michaelis Street, just a 
little way from the church." 

This plan was received with great favor; and, as 
they were all good walkers and not at all tired, they 
decided that it would be more pleasant, in the quiet, 
cool evening air, to walk, than to be shut up in a 
carriage or street-car. 

Miss Meyer, who found great amusement in Harry's 
good-tempered, but boyishly outspoken, criticism of 
everything that was new and strange to him, will- 
ingly suited her pace to that young man's rather 

G 



98 THE ASHMEADS. 

erratic fancy, leaving it to Mr. Morley aud Mary 
more sedately to lead the way. 

" I wonder,'^ said Mary, thoughtfully, after they 
had walked for a short time in silence, '^ whether the 
men who begin a great work really feel from the 
first the magnitude of what they are undertaking, or 
whether they only go on, simply doing what presents 
itself, and then are surprised, as we are, to see to what 
it has grown." 

"It depends on what the work is," said Mr. 
Morley, who was more inclined to draw out his 
companion than to talk himself 

" I was thinking of Dr. Oncken, and also of tlie 
beginning of any important religious work that might 
be started by a minister of Christ," replied Mary. 

" Does any minister of Cln'ist start an important 
work, or perhaps I ought to say, can he do any thing 
that is not important w^ork, if he follows his calling?" 
remarked Mr. Morley, as she paused. 

-' Well, in some of the quiet towns and villages at 
home, there does not seem to be much important work 
to do. Now here papa is so thoroughly roused and 
interested because he sees the hard work that it is to 
fight against the superstition and the tyrannical habits 
of these old countries ; but I have heard people say 
that the theological students at home have rather easy 
work and no <rreat ambition." She flushed a little 



THE ASHMEADS. 99 

as she spoke ; for she did not care to repeat exactly 
her father's views, and had hastily substituted 
" people " in her sentence. 

"Tiiat depends on what is meant by ambition," 
said Mr. Morley. " If a man is ambitious to make 
money (as we business men are)," he interpolated with 
a slight smile, '^ that is pretty plainly seen ; and if he 
is ambitious to make himself a name, that shows too; 
but if his only ambition is to do the will of him who 
sent him to a certain field, that is another matter. He 
may be given work like Dr. Oncken's, that can be 
seen to be important : or he may be put to some little 
church in free America that grows placidly, and does 
its work quietly, and nobody outside its immediate 
circle stops to ask whether its pastor's name is John 
Smith or James Jones. Still it is just the multitude 
of those little churches that make the prosperity of 
our people in America." 

*' Ah, I see, the man should be content to be lost in 
his work," said Mary, with kindling light in her eyes. 
" That is the noblest way to look at it, and it is a 
noble work." 

" Indeed it is," replied Mr. Morley, gravely. Some- 
thing seemed to be on his mind, and he was silent for 
a short time; then he suddenly added, in brighter 
tones : 

" I don't mean that a man should allow himself to 



100 THE ASHMEADS. 

become completely shut up in a narrow sphere. He 
must remember that his sympathy and love must 
extend all over the world, and not be locked up in his 
own church." 

'' I don^t see how a fellow is going to begin that," 
broke in Harry, who had been walking near enough 
to catch these words. " I could not love or hate 
everybody in Riverton ; and however could anybody 
take in all the world ? " 

"You think like Macaulay," said Mary, mischiev- 
ously. " He made great fun of the Duchess of York^s 
cemetery for dogs, and said he could not imagine how 
one could entertain enough affection to go around 
among sixty-four people ; let alone sixty-four dogs." 

" Yes, I remember that," said Mr. Morle\", smiling ; 
" but there was at one time a Scotchman, who, if he 
were only living, might help us to an answer to that 
question; for, if I remember rightly, he had fifty-nine 
children — only five less than the number Macaulay 
placed as the limit. It w^ould be interesting, if not 
decisive, to know just how he found his stock of 
affection hold out in dividing it among so many. 

"But seriously,'' he added, "do you think that love 
is a limited quantity, Harry ? " 

" I think he refers to human love," said Mary. 
" Of course Harry was not speaking of the divine 
love, which we are told ^passeth knowledge.'" 



THE ASHMEADS. 101 

" Oh, no ! I was talking about myself/' put in 
Harry, bluntly ; " and I don't see how I am to love 
people I don't know about, or whom I have forgotten, 
if I ever did know them." 

"That is just it," said Mr. Morley, "and that is 
why I think the command ^ that ye love one another ' 
carries with it by implication the command, to know 
about one another, and not to forget." 

" It will give us plenty to do," remarked Harry. 

" Indeed it does," replied Mr. Morley ; " and in 
these days when so much is written about travels and 
missionary work, and such interesting books too, it 
seems wonderful how many people there are, who do 
not take any special interest in foreign mission fields 
and the work done in them." 

" It seems to me," said Miss Meyer, who had been 
walking along silently, listening to the conversation, 
" that it is the duty of every one who knows about 
any field from actual experience to speak of it to 
others, and thus try to awaken interest. I think that 
Miss Ash mead is doing that to some degree already. 
Did you not say," she added, turning to Mary, " that 
you had written to some of your friends at home 
about the needs and difficulties of the work here in 
Germany ? " 

" Indeed I have," replied Mary, " and I hope to 
write and speak yet more on the subject. Several of 



102 THE ASHMEADS. 

my friends expect to come abroad next summer, and I 
shall do all I can to induce thera to spend some time 
in Hamburg and other places where there are Baptist 
churches, both for their own sake and for the sake of 
our Baptist friends here." 

Mr. Morley was on the point of saying more about 
the urgent need of strongly supporting those missions 
that are already well founded, especially when, as is 
the case with those in Germany and Sweden, they 
form a powerful vantage ground from which to reach 
the neighboring countries ; but at this allusion to 
Mary's friends he again glanced at her rather keenly, 
and then became silent and thoughtful. 

The grand tower of the Michaelis Church was 
already looming up before them, and the conversation 
was turned into an entirely different channel, as Miss 
Meyer called their attention to the fact that they w^ere 
standing before the little two-story brown house in 
which Mendelssohn was born. There was nothing 
particularly to distinguish it from the surrounding 
houses, except the medallion of the tone poet over the 
door, bearing the inscription, *' Felix Mendelssohn 
Bartholdy, geboren, 1809.'^ 

Mary would gladly have entered the building, but 
it was already so late that Mr. Morley was afraid they 
might miss the chants ; and Harry had set his heart 
upon hearing and seeing this performance. They 



THE ASHMEADS. 103 

hastened across the wide open space surrounding the 
church and knocked at the door of the sexton's house, 
almost opposite the great tower. 

When this individual, who was just taking his sup- 
per, appeared, he listened to their wishes with great 
gravity ; and, mindful of the remainder of his repast, 
tried to persuade them to come next day. 

Mr. Morley explained that Harry particularly 
wished to see the man go through his task of playing 
the chants. 

" But it is nothing so extraordinary,'' said the man, 
in German , " Es ist kein grosses ConcertJ^ 

^' Kind of a grocer's concert ! " said Harry, with 
hardly repressed astonishment. "What does he 
mean?" For the man did not speak distinctly. 

" Hush, Harry," said Mary, who wanted to hear 
the rest of the conversation. "He didn't say grocer's. 
J mean he only said, ' it was no great concert.' " 

" Well, if you will start up, I will follow in a few 
moments," said the sexton, who saw nothing for it 
but to let his supper wait. So saying, he unlocked 
the church door with a huge key, and then went back 
to get his overcoat. 

Our party climbed steadily up the huge broad 
wooden staircases, only stopping to rest now and then 
on one of the benches conveniently placed in the deep 
window recesses. They had ascended about half-way 



104 THE ASHMEADS. 

when they could hear the sound of talking going on 
above them ; and, echoing from far down below, came 
the heavy footsteps of the guide who was following 
them, not without a good deal of grumbling at the 
unseasonableness of the hour. It was nine o'clock; 
and these people were the first who, within his recol- 
lection, had ever made the ascent of the tower with 
the avowed object of hearing those monotonous chauts. 
It was certainly surprising. 

The broad landing to which they soon came was 
lighted on three sides by three small windows, while 
on the fourth side were situated one or tw^o little 
rooms, occupied by the officer of the Fire Department. 

They had just time to take a glimpse at the beauti- 
ful scene spread out before them — the distant stretches 
of river showing dimly by the light caught from the 
evening sky, the surrounding fertile country, the 
sparkling circle of lights marking the outlines of the 
great city, and over all the vast expanse of the 
heavens, steadily darkening, yet still too light to show 
the brightening stars — when looking round they saw 
the door from which the sound had been heard thrust 
open, and a young man come out, holding in his hand 
an old-fashioned brass instrument. He was proceed- 
inor straio:ht towards the western window when, seeino; 
the strangers, he stopped and bowed. He evidently 
had not expected an audience at such close quarters. 



THE ASHMEADS. 105 

A large enough audience he was no doubt prepared 
for, but then it was far away below. 

After a moment's pause he stepped to the window, 
and throwing open the sash, played a slow German 
choral once through. This was repeated after a brief 
interval at the windows on the south and on the east. 

" I should think it would be any thing but pleasant 
on a stormy day to stand before those open windows 
long enough to play that chant,'^ said Mary. 

^^But you see he is provided against such emer- 
gencies,'' said Mr. Morley, pointing to a single small 
pane which was neatly hung on hinges, so that it 
could be opened without opening the rest of the 
window. 

The young man told the last speaker, that it was 
sometimes very trying to the health of his father, 
who often grumbled at having to climb up there, 
getting over-heated on the way, and then risking 
becoming chilled by the blast. 

'^I should think he would give it up. What is 
the use of it?'^ asked Mr. Morley. 

"Oh, they cannot give it up; the house depends 
on it," said Miss Meyer. 

" We get the house free, according to the pro- 
visions of the will of an eccentric old inhabitant," 
said the young man. "My father is not obliged 
always to come here himself. If he is ill, or absent, 



106 THE ASHMEADS. 

as at pre.-ent, I take his place; but I'm not much 
of a musician. You ought to hear him play tliis 
trumpet.'^ After a pause, "Yes, it is pretty old/' 
he added, as the visitors crowded around to look at 
tlie tarnished old horn, with its old-fashioned keys ; 
" it's the same one, the first tune was played on, a 
hundred years ago ; yes, and the tunes are the same 
old tunes." 

" They do not think it wise, I suppose, to put 
new tunes in old instruments," said Mary. 

After playing again at the east window, the young 
man said *^good evening," and departed; the whole 
performance having taken not more than twenty min- 
utes, and our party set out on their homeward way, 
after taking one more glance at the enchanting view. 

"You remember the great fire that occurred here 
in 1842?" inquired Miss Meyer, of Mary. 

" Yes, I have often read the accounts of it when I 
have little thought that I should ever see the very 
spot where it occurred. One would hardly think, 
when looking at the beautiful town now, that it had 
ever witnessed such a conflagration." 

"No; the people were very active in rebuilding; 
not of course so prompt as your people in the marvel- 
ous springing forth of Chicago from its ashes ; yet the 
Hamburgers have shown a good deal of enterprise." 

" That is very evident." 



THE ASHMEADS. 107 

*^ They not only repaired the damage done, and 
built new houses; but they made the conflagration 
itself useful. Do you see those houses far over in that 
direction? Well, that is the suburb of Haramerburg. 
It was formerly a piece of swamp ; but the entire sur- 
face over a mile square was raised four or five feet by 
rubbish from the great fire.'' 

" Thus they did/' said Mr. Morley, " what every 
one ought to try to do — trample calamities under foot, 
and build on them better and stronger for the future." 

They had now reached Mr. Meyer's house, and on 
entering they found, to their surprise, that Mr. and 
Mrs. Ashmead were awaiting them. 

" My head was so much better that I thought the 
walk would do me good," said Mrs. Ashmead, in an- 
swer to her daughter's inquiries. 

" Mrs. Ashmead is not used to our long twilights, 
and I think she became a little anxious that you had 
not returned when she heard the clock strike nine," 
remarked Mrs. Meyer, pleasantly. 

" Indeed I cannot realize that it is so late," ex- 
claimed Mary. " We ought not to keep you up late, 
mamma." 

" As I have slept nearly all morning, I hardly need 
rest now," replied Mrs. Ashmead, smiling ; ^^and your 
father is evidently very much interested in his conver- 



108 THE ASHMEADS. 

Mr. Meyer and Mr. Ashmead were deep in a dis- 
cussion of the pressing needs of the Theological 
School; but the latter now turned to the young 
people. 

^'You have not seen the place," he said to his 
daughter ; " you would really be surprised to see what 
it is like. 1 never thought the Theological Seminary 
at Riverside was anything extraordinary ; but it is a 
perfect palace compared to this. The dormitories are 
all crowded together on the third floor right under the 
roof, looking more like prisoners' cells than anything 
else I can think of. But notwithstanding these disad- 
vantages the students study very well, and are making, 
I am told, great and very satisfactory progress.'' 

^' L am very glad they do that," added Mr. Meyer; 
" for there is little in those narrow, cramped quarters 
to draw their minds away from their proper work. 
The only fear I have felt was, that their discomforts 
might make them go limping slowly along. 

" It is truly astonishing," added Mr. Ashmead, 
turning to his wife, who was busy inspecting the sew- 
ing which little Anna Meyer had brought home, com- 
pleted from the school, " it is truly astonishing what 
a difference there is in the conditions under which our 
people live in this country, and those wdiich surround 
them in our more favored land. I wonder what Mr. 
Gifford would think of being obliged to contend with 



THE ASHMEADS. 109 

such hardships as these students meet with in pur- 
suing their studies?" 

Mrs. Ash mead looked up surprised. Could she 
believe her ears? Had her husband really mentioned 
the name of the young candidate for the ministry who 
had been the unconscious cause of their present travels 
abroad ? 

Mr. Ashmead, too, was somewhat surprised at his 
own utterance. Had it slipped out unawares, or was 
it only the natural mellowing influence of distance 
which induces in travelers a more kindly and chari- 
table feeling towards those in any way associated w-ith 
home memories, as the sound of clanging bells 
becomes, when far away, more tolerable to the ear? 
Mr. Ashmead could not tell. Indeed, he did not 
trouble himself to ask. But he did glance hastily 
at Mary. 

She was just then busily praising the extreme neat- 
ness of a specimen of hemming that little Anna 
Meyer had brought proudly to display to her. Each 
stitch ran exactly on the same side of the same thread 
of the fabric throughout the whole length of the 
seam, and Mary warmly gave the well merited praise. 

"A young theological student, I presume?" said 
Mr. Morley, who had been listening attentively, and 
who did not fail to notice this slight but noticeable 
hitch in the conversation. 



110 THE ASHMEADS. 

" One whom we have seen something of, partly on 
account of an acquaintance that formerly existed 
between Mr. Ash mead and the young man's father/' 
said Mrs. Ashmead, hardly knowing what to say ; yet, 
since she was obliged to say something, evidently 
determined to make it as colorless as possible. 

Mr. Morley, however, fastening on the fact of the 
old-time friendship, and not doubting that it would 
prove agreeable, replied : 

" And I have no doubt you will never regret the 
acquaintance. I know of no class of men in every 
way more worthy of regard than tiiose who are study- 
ing for the ministry, with the purpose of devoting 
their lives to that most noble of all callings." 

Mary stooped over the child's sewing, on which 
were eight different kinds of stitch, and seemed to be 
examining it yet more closely. It may have been, 
however, chiefly to hide a look of pleasure which 
swept over her face at these earnest and heartily 
sjxdvcn words. 

The conversation havino^ become more s:eneral, Mr. 
Aslmiead had time to notice the hour, and they all 
rose to take their leave. He had, however, become 
thoroughly interested in the matter of securing a 
desirable piece of ground, and providing suitable 
buildings for the accommodation of tlie many students 
who would fain enter on a course of theological study, 



THE ASH MEADS. Ill 

but are debarred from this great advantage by tlie 
utter inadequacy of the provisions for this purpose. 

The next day was spent in a pleasant excursion to 
Wandsbeck, the hamlet made celebrated by the genius 
of the poet, Matthias Claudius. Starting from the 
pleasant little suburb of Hamm, they followed the 
road leading northward, under a long, straight avenue 
of noble linden trees, until after a ten minutes^ walk 
the road turned abruptly to the right, and led down 
one of the streets of Wandsbeck. It w^as shaded by 
grand old trees, whose massive and often picturesquely 
gnarled trunks terminated in almost equally dense and 
massive crowns of foliage, rendering the walk below 
cool and pleasant, even during the heats of mid- 
summer. Here and there some old lady might be 
seen sitting in the open garden, with a table at her 
side holding newspapers or work, and in the little 
glass porticoes tables Ave re spread for a late breakfast. 
At the end of this street they turned into the Goethe 
Street, and soon afterwards entered a magnificent 
forest of beech trees. Following a foot-path leading 
to the left, they found themselves standing before a 
massive, simple block of brownish red-stone, sur- 
rounded and guarded by a single chain, and com- 
pletely covered, except on the upper half of the front 
face, by a beautiful growth of ivy. 

The upper part of the stone is polished, and bears 



112 THE ASnMEADS. 

cut upon its surface the outlines of a knapsack, and a 
traveler's staif and hat. Underneath are the words, 
'' Matthias Claudius," and at the lower right hand 
corner, by pushing the ivy partly aside, one could 
read the date, " 1840,'' the hundredth anniversary of 
the birth of the poet. 

'' Where was he born ? " asked Harry, "and what 
was there remarkable about him? " 

"He was born at Keinsfeld, in Holstein, not far 
from Liibeck," replied Mr. Morley. " He was one 
of the noted literary characters in Germany in the 
latter part of the eighteenth century. He was the 
editor of the weekly journal, The Wandsbecker Bote, 
a paper which was started with high hopes, but which, 
notwithstanding the support and contributions of such 
men as Goethe and Herder, was not a success." 
" I thought that he was a poet," remarked Mary. 
" Yes," replied Mr. Morley; "and he is, perhaps, 
best known to the world at large through some of his 
most popular poems ; but, to my mind, nothing can 
give him such a claim to distinction as the fact that 
lie was one of the few men who, in the days of 
Lessing, Goethe, and others well known to literary 
fame, withstood the rationalistic tendency of the 
time, and held firm Biblical ground. His poems are 
full of a simple and homely grace. Herder, who 
esteemed him the purest and best of men, said : 'They 



THE ASHMEA.DS. 113 

strike certain silver chords of the heart, which others 
seldom are able to do as he does.' " 

" That is high praise from Herder," said Mr. 
Ashmead. '^ Claudius must have been a man of 
true worth." 

'' I think you will be the more convinced of that 
the more you study his character," replied Mr. 
Morley. "His philosophy was of the right sort. 
He made the best of everything. He used to say : 
*The great and the much is not everything; if people 
only could understand that, there would be a good 
deal less of " alack " and ^* alas " in the world.' " 

" That is just as true and just as wise a word to-day 
as it was a hundred years ago," said Mr. Ashmead. 
" I must read the works of this poet." 

" I am sure you will be interested," replied Mr. 
Morley. 

During this conversation, they had been continuing 
their walk at a leisurely pace, and now they turned 
their faces homeward.^ 



1 It is now two years since the visit to Wandsbeck here recorded, 
and tidings comes that ground has been secured there for the erec- 
tion of the German Theological Seminary, as soon as means can be 
raised.— Editor. 

H 



CHAPTER IX. 

SORROW AND DISAPPOINTMENT FOR HARTLEY 
GIFFORD. 

rriHE death of Mr. Gifford's father made an unex- 
pected cliange in the young man's prospects. 
The old man himself was wedded to his old ways, and 
to the farm on which he had lived all his life. Hart- 
ley knew that the farm was mortgaged, and not very 
productive. He had therefore quietly accepted the 
prospect of working his own way in the world, never 
imagining that the farm would do much more than 
keep his father and mother in comfort during their 
lifetime. Now at his father's death his only anxiety 
was lest his mother should be left insufficiently pro- 
vided for. 

" You will come with me, mother," he said, when 
the first shock of bereavement was over, and they had 
time to turn their thoughts to the future. ^' You will 
be the mistress of the ^ manse' as soon as I am settled.'^ 

" No, no, my boy,'^ replied his mother, with more 
tenderness than she usually allowed herself to show. 
*' You will be looking for a younger mistress for your 
house. I notice that you wrote pretty often about 

114 



THE ASHMEADS. 115 

that young girl at Riverton ; and it don't stand to 
reason that young folks shouldn't think of getting 
married." 

Hartley Gifford's color changed, and for a moment 
he caught his breath. He had occasionally mentioned 
Miss Ashmead's name in liis letters, and in the day- 
dream that he had indulged so short a time before he 
had thought with pleasure that his parents knew of 
her, and that it would not be like telling them of an 
entire stranger when he told them the news that he 
had hoped to bring home with him. He certainly 
had not imagined that they would guess at this day- 
dream themselves ; for he had forgotten how each 
little item in his letters was thouo;ht over and mao;- 
nified in their quiet humdrum life, so that the simple 
mention of Miss Ashmead's name was enough to set 
them planning and conjecturing. 

" Indeed, mother, you are mistaken," he said, after 
a short pause to collect his thoughts. " I am not 
thinking of marrying ; I am only thinking of you. 
You remember I wrote about the church at Overbury 
wanting me. It is a very small salary ; but if you 
would not mind a new place and new people, I would 
do all I could to make you comfortable there." 

^' You are a good boy, Hartley, a good boy," re- 
plied his mother, stroking his hand ; '^ still it don't 
stand to reason that young folks shouldn't marry. It 



116 THE ASHMEADS. 

is a small salary at Overbury, is it? Well, we will 
see about that ; we will see/'— and then she turned to 
look out of the window, and Hartley, whose brow had 
contracted painfully at the renewed allusion to his 
marriage, said no more. 

The next day, however, Mrs. Gifford of her own 
accord renewed the conversation. 

" Fve been thinking over what you said, Hartley,'' 
she remarked quietly, ^' and I was thinking if you 
have no better chance than that church at Overbury, 
may be you would like to take hold of the farm for a 
while. It has been paying pretty well of late; and 
then it isn't so big to manage ; for land went up about 
here after the new railroad came through, and we 
sold off enough to pay the mortgage, and there was 
some left over to put by too. Your father always 
said to sell the rest when he was gone, and to divide 
between you and me ; but if you like to stay on here, 
there's no hurry to sell. I could stay here till you get 
married, then I would go over to sister Mary Ann." 

" My dear mother, pray do not think of any such 
arrangement," interrupted Hartley. " Your comfort 
is the first thing to be considered." 

^*Oh, I should be very comfortable with Mary 
Ann. She was saying to me that she was lonely 
now her eldest girl is married; and your father 
always took comfort in the thought that Mary Ann 



THE ASHMEADS. 117 

and I got on so well togetlier, and that whatever 
liappened to him, there would be no call for me to 
go oif among strangers.'^ Mrs. Giffbrd wiped away 
a tear, but she did not give way to any great show 
of grief, and she quickly continued : "^ Of course, I 
should pay board-money, and that would be a help 
to Mary Ann ; and there would be no sense in two 
lone women keeping up two houses, unless I was 
going to keep a home ready for you, when you 
would marryJ' 

There was something in his mother's quiet per- 
sistence, in the idea of his marriage, which touched, 
rather than irritated. Hartley. It evidently arose 
from a simple and earnest conviction, that she was 
planning for his happiness. 

"You needn't be troubled about the money," she 
said, after a pause; "your father and I were not 
spending folks. It was'nt our way; and then for 
you, father thought that a young fellow oughtn't 
to need more money than would take him decently 
through college, while he was at his studies; so he 
just put it by for you against your marriage. We 
always meant it for you. So you see, you needn't 
worry about the small salary at Overbury, if that 
is what is standing in your way." 

" You were both thinking always of me, and now 
it is my turn to think of you, and to care for you," 



118 THE ASHMEADS. 

cried Hartley, eveu forgetting Mary Ash mead for 
the moment in the rush of gratitude and affection 
towards his quiet, loving parents. 

Mrs. Gifford only smiled a little, and then her face 
resumed its expression of quiet resignation ; and, 
remarking that the lawyer could better explain all 
the money matters to him, she set about preparing tea. 

That night Hartley Gifford spent in very anxious 
thought. Fancy painted to him the old farm-house 
made dainty and pretty for a charming young mis- 
tress. If the farm was making money, why should 
not he keep it ? And would not Mr. and Mrs. Ash- 
mead look upon him with more favor, if they knew 
that he had already a settled home and income to offer 
to their daughter? Then came the thought of his 
■work. Should he lay down his weapons, and un- 
buckle his armor, just as he had finished girding 
himself for the conflict? He strove to persuade 
himself that his duty to his mother called him from 
the path which he had chosen ; but conscience would 
not be persuaded. If liis mother were left penniless, 
it miglit have been his duty first to work for her 
support ; but now she was left amply provided for, 
and the home with her widowed sister and her chil- 
dren would, he well knew, be more to his mother's 
taste, than all the dainty refinements that he was 
planning for Mary Ashmead. The words, ^^Go ye 



THE ASHMEADS. 119 

into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature," rang in his ears ; and, strive as he might, 
conscience told him that he was simply trying to make 
excuses to himself for shirking a duty which he felt 
stood between him and the woman he longed to 
win. 

^' I must give her up," was his resolve at last, after 
a long and painful struggle. " My work is to do the 
M'ill of him that sent me ; and his will is that I should 
preach the gospel wherever he gives me opportunity." 

It was with this determination that Hartley Gilford 
met his mother the following morning ; and, although 
she was naturally reticent and slow to express any 
opinion, she replied without any hesitation when he 
told her his resolution : 

" I think you are right not to give up your own 
work. Your father never meant that you should. 
If it had been anything else that you had taken a 
turn for, he would have felt it very hard that the old 
farm would have to be sold when he was gone ; but, 
somehow, with your studying for the ministrv, he 
never looked at it that way." 

While they were talking, there was a knock at the 
door, and Hartley rose to admit a young man, whom 
he recognized as the son of Dr. Simpson, the family 
physician. This young man had been a school-mate 
of Hartley's boyhood ; but he had gone to a different 



120 THE ASHMEADS. 

college, and Hartley had seen little of him of late 
years. He was, therefore, specially pleased with this 
mark of friendly remembrance, and in a litfle while 
the two had drifted into interested talk concerning 
their professions and their future plans. Young 
Simpson had studied medicine, and looked forward to 
taking up his father's practice; but he was not too 
much wrapped up in his own profession to enter with 
hearty interest into Hartley's plans, and he strongly 
approved his friend's determination to follow out his 
chosen work. 

" I know something of Overbury, and you must 
not expect to find it easy work,'^ he remarked ; " but 
I don't believe that you are one of those fellows who 
want to wait for easy work. However, just to put a 
little courage in you, if you should be disheartened 
when you go there, listen to this account in a letter I 
got this morning. It is from a German fellow, who 
was over here studying medicine. We were both 
Baptists, and we were both pretty enthusiastic over 
our profession. So he and I chummed together a 
good deal." 

He drew from his pocket a letter bearing the Ham- 
burg postmark, and began reading aloud a part of it, 
describing the efforts of the Baptists in Germany, and 
the difficulties with which the theological students had 
to contend. 



THE ASHMEADS. 121 

In fact, it is needless to copy the letter, as it con- 
tained a short account of what the Ashmead family 
bad just been seeing and hearing. One passage, how- 
ever, particularly aroused Hartley Gifford's attention. 

Young Simpson turned over a page, with tlie 
remark : 

" Oh, this is only about some people he has met 
there; but listen to this. Does'nt it sound like the 
dark ages?" And he continued reading. 

" We have had an instance recently of the intoler- 
ant spirit of the State Church in the case of a boy 
employed by a baker a few blocks from our house. 
The boy had been brought up a Lutheran ; but not 
long ago he was baptized. As soon as this was known 
by his Lutheran master, he dismissed the boy ; and 
not only this, but the one who who had invited the 
boy to attend our worship was also dismissed by his 
master. Mr. Morley was very indignant, and so was 
Miss Ashmead. Indeed you Americans find it hard 
to understand such a state of affairs ; and I own it 
seems strange to me after being so long in your free 
country." 

"Mr. Morley. Who is he? asked Hartley, ab- 
ruptly. 

" Oh, he is one of the Americans. I forgot I 
skipped that," said the young man. *' A Mr. Ash- 
mead and his wife and daughter and son are over 



122 THE ASHMEADS. 

there for the summer. In fact, Meyer gets quite en- 
thusiastic about this charming young lady ; but as he 
winds up by telling me that she is either engaged or 
going to be engaged to this Mr. Morley, I hope he 
will have sense enough not to lose his heart. I don't 
wonder that all that State Church business looks bad 
to American eyes. I couldn't stand it for a day. I 
should want to get away." 

^' But we must not always run away from what we 
do not like/' Hartley forced himself to say, as Simp- 
son paused for some comment. 

" That's true. They need helpers rather than de- 
serters/' replied Simpson. " If I get a chance to go 
abroad next year, I'm going straight to Hamburg, if 
it is for nothing but to give the Baptists there a hearty 
shake of the hands, and to let people see that they 
have friends in America, even if they have not many 
at home." 

" What part of America are these people from?" 
asked Mrs. Gifford, who had hitherto sat silently by 
the window, sewing. 

" Carl Meyer does not say,'' replied Simpson, re- 
ferring again to the letter ; " he only says that they are 
going on to Sweden. Have you met this Mr. Morley, 
Hartley?" 

" No/' replied his friend, thankful that the question 
did not refer to the Ashmeads. Then, anxious to 



THE ASHMEADS. 123 

conceal from Simpson any signs of the perturbation 
that this news had caused him to feel, he began to 
speak of the prospects of the Baptist churches in the 
old world. 

*' Why don't you go over there and have a look at 
them yourself ?'' asked Simpson, as he rose to go. 
*' I would if I were you. A man can always do so 
much more good when he has seen for himself, and 
thoroughly understands the state of affairs.'' 

Hartley only siiook his head with rather a forced 
smile, and his friend departed. 

Mrs. Gilford had resumed her sewing, and Hartley 
was fidgeting with the gilt ornaments on the mantel- 
piece when his mother's voice asked, with a scarcely 
perceptible quiver in its quiet tones : 

" Hartley, did you ask any girl to marry you, and 
she wouldn't? You needn't tell me if you don't want 
to ; but I thought may-be it was that, and not money 
troubles, that set you against marrying." 

" No, no, mother," he answered, hastily. " I never 
proposed, and I don't think I ever shall. A man 
must attend to his work first." 

He tried to speak with cheerful indifference, but 
his mother answered : 

" You know your own affairs best, I suppose ; but 
it stands to reason that young folks should mnrry ; 
and I don't hold with these notions of never asking 



124 THE ASHMEADS. 

for what you want. It does to make stories, but it 
makes mighty poor living. A man isn't meant to get 
good things without asking for them ; and if he is to 
get a ^ no/ I guess he was meant to be able to take the 
* no ' ; or else the Almighty would have arranged it 
that the women are to do the proposing." 

Her speech was quiet and slow as usual, and she 
did not seem to expect any answer ; for she put away 
her thimble and thread, and went out to see about 
dinner. 



A 



CHAPTER X. 

THE ASHMEADS IN COPENHAGEN. 

RE they not something like the Salvation Army, 



sir V 



9" 



The speaker was the portier of a large hotel in 
Copenhagen, and his question was addressed to Mr. 
Morley, who, with the aid of a huge directory, was 
trying to find out the whereabouts of the Baptist 
Church. 

The portier, no doubt, thought it was very remark- 
able that an individual, apparently so respectable as 
Mr. Morley, should be troubling himself so much to 
find out about a congregation, of which he himself 
knew little but the name, — not that he knew or cared 
very much more about any other creed. He was a 
comfortable, plump-looking individual, who imparted 
to the visitor confidentially that he went to church 
one Sunday, and his wife went the next; and if she 
forgot that it was his turn, and went twice in suces- 
sion, he did not mind it one bit. 

Mr. Morley enlightened his questioner on the differ- 
ence between the Baptists and the Salvation Army. 

" Oh, I didn't know, sir," replied the man. " I 

125 



126 THE ASHMEADS. 

only know tbat we had an awful lot of trouble with 
the Salvationists. They were here, and we had to 
turn them out, they made such a noise and riot ; and 
I thought may-be the Baptists preached the same way, 
and shouted and swung their arms about/' 

"No," said Mr. Morley, hardly able to repress a 
smile ; " those are not our methods.'' 

He turned again to the directory and continued his 
search, and at length succeeded in finding the address 
which had, rather misleadingly, been entered under 
the head of " Kristus Kapellet." He gave a cordial 
invitation to the man to come there, and hear for him- 
self, so that in future he might be able to speak from 
experience of the character of the services. 

It happened that just at this moment a gentleman 
came in to speak to Mr. Morley; on something con- 
nected with the business for which the latter was trav- 
eling. The portier stood by, apparently looking over 
the books; but in reality drinking in every word with 
great curiosity. After Mr. Morley's friend had gone 
there was a marked difference, or shall we say defer- 
ence, in the manner and tone of the portier. For was 
not the gentleman who had just departed a very 
well-known and highly respected municipal officer? 
These Baptists must be something better and more 
important than he had imagined ! He had thought 
they were merely an eccentric, hair-brained commu- 



THE ASHMEADS. 127 

nity; yet here was a well-known official talking on 
most friendly terms with one who avowed himself a 
Baptist; and even asking his advice. And the gentle- 
man seemed very respectable; and did he not say that 
there were two and a half millions of Baptists in 
America? That was a large number. 

He mused over these things, and they seemed to 
hira so strange, that he afterwards spoke of them to 
his wife. Her interest and curiosity were much ex- 
cited, and one Sunday, not long after our travelers 
had left Copenhagen, the good woman attended the 
services at the Baptist Church. She was so much 
struck by the tone of the sermon, the deep personal 
interest manifested, the feeling of Christian brother- 
hood apparent among the members of the community, 
that she came again ; for she was no longer satisfied 
with the lifeless and formal services at which she had 
been hitherto an irregular and uninterested attendant. 
Her account of w4iat she saw and heard at the " Kris- 
tus Kapellet ^' induced her husband to go there also. 
The word of God touched their hearts, and as they 
studied that word with the desire to take it for their 
guide, their duty in regard to baptism became clear 
and plain to them. They were baptized, and united 
themselves to the hitherto despised body of believers. 
Not long after, however, they took the step which is 
taken by so many of the best and most earnest workers 



128 THE ASHMEADS. 

ill the Baptist churches of those older countries — they 
left for America. 

Do American Baptists realize how steadily this 
movement is going on ? And do they render a fitting 
return for the strength that is thus withdrawn from 
these communities and transferred to swell the ranks 
of tiieir own churches, and to contribute to the general 
prosperity of their own country ? 

The following day was Sunday, and the Ashmeads, 
with Mr. Morley, took their way out through the 
long and handsome Gothens Gate across the Norrbro 
to the Baggesens Gade, where is situated the Kristus 
Ka pellet. This is one of the neatest and most com- 
fortable places of worship possessed by the Baptists on 
the Continent. 

The visitors were impressed very favorably by the 
devout and serious manner of the worshipers. The 
congregation was remarkably attentive; but after the 
service had closed cordial greetings were interchanged 
on all sides ; and the little groups gathered here and 
there reminded our travelers of the custom of many 
an American country congregation, more than any- 
thing they had yet seen in Europe. 

There was nothing distinctly national in the external 
appearance of the people, unless one might perhaps 
except one or two women who wore the striking white 
head-drees peculiar to the fisherwomen; and they 



THE ASHMEADS. 129 

noticed also a certain universal plainness, almost 
sombreness, of attire, such as is rarely met with even 
in the poorest of the churches in our native land. 
This plainness seems to be characteristic of the non- 
conforming churches on the Continent, and it is appar- 
ent as much in the dress and manners of the people, 
as in the edifices in which they worship. To a stranger 
this at first appears as if it were carried to an almost 
unnecessary extreme. But a little reflection will show 
that it arises, in the first place, from a spirit somewhat 
like that of the ancient Puritans, seeking to protest 
against the vain display and senseless extravagance of 
the State Churches ; in the second place, from the lack 
among many of the members of any desire, or taste, 
for anything approaching to luxury ; and in the third 
place, from the fact, that when enough money has 
been obtained to build a chapel, there is but little left 
to expend for purposes of ornamentation. 

" In Denmark," said an intelligent member of the 
church to Mr. Morley, " it is often difficult enough to 
get the people to give sufficient to support the pastor. 
Many of them have that old-fashioned and false idea 
that a preacher need not study ; that the more he 
studies the less he is fitted to preach ; and, therefore, 
as he has no sermons to prepare, that he ought to 
busy himself with some trade or profitable occupation, 
whereby he may earn his own living." 



130 THE ASHMEADS. 

" But such an idea is destructive to any advance or 
progress," said Mr. Morley. 

" Very true," rejoined his friend. " It is very 
prevalent, nevertheless, especially in the country 
regions; and it is one of the greatest difficulties 
against which we have to contend." 

"Another difficulty, I should imagine," said Mr. 
Morley, " must arise from the prevailing desecration 
of the Lord's Day." 

"It is only too true," was the reply. "I believe 
that the manner in which the Lord's Day is kept, or 
rather is not kept, is largely responsible for the low 
spiritual condition of this and other Continental 
lands." 

Mr. Ashmead, who was standing near, had been 
looking over the hymn-book which had been used 
during divine service and, pointing to the name of 
the editor, Julius Kobner, he asked Mr. Morley if 
Kobner had not lived for some tiiDc in Copenhagen. 

" Yes, yes," replied the Danish gentleman ; " and 
if you will walk with me a short distance, I will show 
you the house in which he spent seven years, and 
where he wrote his grand poem, ^ Das Lied von Gott.'" 

They accepted at once this invitation, and Harry 
and Mary were much pleased when the gentleman 
promised also to take them to the cemetery where was 
the grave of that genial prose poet, Hans .Christian 



THE ASHMEADS. 131 

Andersen, the charmer alike of children and of grown 
people. Both of the young folks had too often come 
under the spell of Andersen's wondrous fairy tales, 
and " The Picture Book Without Pictures,'' not to 
feel a lively interest in looking on the last earthly 
resting place of this loved and famous author. 

Mr. Kobner's house was in the same district as the 
chapel ; and the rooms were courteously shown to the 
Ashmeads by the party who occupied the house — a 
member of the Baptist Church. After visiting it, 
climbing up the little narrow stair-case and inspecting 
the rooms with their old-fashioned furniture, the 
party proceeded to the cemetery — Assistens-Kirkegaard. 
Passing up the long, well-kept gravel walk, they 
came first to a plot containing a monument to Rasmus 
Christian Rask, the great Danish philologist. It bears 
the inscription : 

" We owe every service to the Fatherland." 

Here also was the grave of Prof. Johann Keller. 
The monument bore the inscription : 

" He laid words on the lips of the deaf and dumb, 
and let light into darkened minds." 

Proceeding down one of the side-walks, Harry's 
attention was attracted by the sight of a grave-stone 
with the very unusual adjunct of a pump standing 
close behind it. 

" That," exclaimed their guide, " is the tomb of a 



132 THE ASHMEADS. 

rich Jew, who had a great dread of water. He left an 
enormous sum to his wife on condition that not a drop 
of water should ever penetrate into his grave. This 
was very hard to accomplish ; but, as you see, the con- 
struction is very solid. They have removed the body 
two or three times to make alterations; they have set 
up this pump, and have spent much money and 
trouble. It would, therefore, be a great pity if they 
had not succeeded in securing the occupant against the 
moisture which was his special aversion.'' 

Just at this moment, they noticed a funeral proces- 
sion, which had entered the gates after they had, and 
which had now come to a stop before an open grave 
in the immediate vicinity. The attendants had gath- 
ered around in a sad and silent group, while the 
Lutheran priest, in his flowing gown and large, 
Elizabethan ruif, recited in solemn tones the service 
for the dead. They Avaited in respectful silence until 
the service was concluded, and then passed on towards 
the grave of Hans Christian Andersen. On the way, 
their guide told them that often, when one of the 
Baptist ministers had been conducting a funeral ser- 
vice, a Lutheran priest might have been seen watch- 
ing closely the ceremony, to make sure whether only 
a prayer was offered, or whether the minister was 
making an address at the grave ; w hich latter was not 
allowed by the civil authorities. 



THE ASHMEADS. 133 

Soon they came to the simple monument of red 
stone which they sought. It was about six or seven 
feet in height, bearing an inscription which may be 
thus translated : " Poet Hans Christian Andersen, 
born 2nd April, 1805 ; died 4th August, 1875," and 
the following sentences from his writings inscribed 
beneath : 

" The soul that God has made in his likeness is im- 
mortal." 

" Our life here is the seed of eternity.'' 

"Our body dies, but our soul never dies." 

" I can show you a house at the other end of the 
town, near the Kongens Nytorv, or King's New 
Market, where our poet at one time lived, and from 
whose windows, I have heard, he used to throw the 
letters he wished to mail, trusting that whoever picked 
them up would attend to their reaching their proper 
destination." 

" That was a strange idea," said Mary. " I think 
I have read that he moved frequently, and that he 
chose very queer and dilapidated houses in which to 
take up his abode." 

"Yes, that is true," replied Mr. Morley ; "but 
this habit of moving, and his choice of uninviting 
neighborhoods really gave him unusually good oppor- 
tunities for gathering material for his charming stories. 
Those who carefully study life in all its aspects are 



134 THE ASHMEADS. 

the only ones who can pick out the hidden beauties 
and touches of nature, and thus, like Andersen, make 
their writings household words/' 

While thus talking they passed through a pretty 
little park, where they noticed the fine statue of Hans 
Christian Orsted, who by his discovery of electro- 
magnetism paved the way for the telegraph as it 
exists to-day, binding together the thoughts of the 
ends of the earth, as the railways bind together their 
material interests. 

The afternoon service had just begun as they re- 
entered the chapel, after having taken dinner at the 
house of their hospitable entertainers. 

The voluntary on the organ was followed by sing- 
ing from the '^ Trocus Stirame,'' the people remaining 
seated. The reading of the Scripture was listened to 
with reverent attention. This was followed by prayer 
and singing, and then came the sermon. This was 
not from a prescribed text, as is the custom in the 
State Church, but, as with us, from a text selected by 
the pastor because it contained the truth which he de- 
sired to instill into the minds of his hearers. The 
church is lighted by eight large windows. In the 
evening, gas is used. The heating is effected by two 
large stoves placed, as is usual, in Continental houses 
of worship, in the corners of the room just where 
they will be of least use, and run the greatest risk of 



THE ASHMEADS. 135 

damaging the walls with which they are brought in 
such close contact. The seats were uncushioned, the 
floor bare. 

The following afternoon, as Mr. Ashmead sat in 
their room watching his wife, who was busied with 
preparations for leaving on the next day, their con- 
versation turned on this great simplicity of the houses 
of worship. 

"I cannot help a somcvvhat dissatisfied feeling 
when I see the churches of our brethren here so very 
plain. It is such a contrast to our own comfortable 
and handsome places of worship/^ said Mr. Ashmead. 

" That is true," replied his wife ; ^' but I must say 
that my feeling is rather one of astonishment that, 
notwithstanding all the difficulties and all the persecu- 
tions which the Baptists here on the Continent have had 
to endure, they should have been able to secure sucii 
neat and comfortable buildings; especially as the 
majority of the members are evidently in real pov- 
erty.'' 

"True, true," said Mr. Ashmead ; "then one must 
look at it from another point of view. Do not we at 
home go perhaps too far in the luxuriousness and or- 
namentation of our churches? and would it not be 
possible to strike a happy medium, and thus to be able 
to give more for the advancement of Christ's kingdom 
in every land than we do at present ? " 



136 THE ASHMEADS. 

" Perhaps so/' replied Mrs. Ash mead. " I own I 
do love to see a handsome church, well fitted up ; but 
what I have seen and felt since we have been abroad 
has convinced me that we often think too much of the 
beauty and comfort of our own house of worship, and 
too little of those who have only the very plainest 
buildings, or perhaps none of any kind." 

At this moment Harry and Mary came in. They 
had been visiting the Charlottenburg, ^vhere was on 
exhibition the magnificent painting of '' Christ before 
Pilate," by Munkacsy. 

"Oh, mamma, I wish that you had been with us," 
exclaimed Mary. " It was perfectly wonderful. It 
is placed in a very peculiar way, which produces an 
admirable effect. It occupies the entire side of the room, 
and opposite to it is an immense mirror. The picture 
is extremely realistic. I mean the figure seemed, 
as one says, ready to step down from the canvas. 
When one turns around, the effect of the mirror re- 
flecting at once the picture and the spectators, is truly 
wonderful." 

"I never saw anything like it," interrupted Harry, 
with usual enthusiasm in the subject of pictures. '^ If 
it were not for the difference of dress, I could not 
have told, when I was looking at them in the mirror, 
which were the people in the room, and which were 
the people in the picture." 



THE ASHMEADS. 137 

" Did you not notice the expression of eagerness so 
admirably depicted on the faces of the Jewish Rabbis, 
as they await with breathless anxiety Pilate's final 
decision ? '' said Mary. 

" I think Pilate is one of the best figures in the 
picture/' said Harry. " Mr. Morley pointed out to me 
how he has his eyes bent on the ground and his arms 
folded, but not as if he had made up his mind and 
meant to stick to it. With the fingers of one hand 
he is tapping on the elbow of the other arm, or pick- 
ing at his sleeve in a weak, uncertain sort of way, as 
if he wished he were well out of it all.'' 

"There is only one woman's figure in the whole 
composition," remarked Mary. " She stands near a 
pillar in the back-ground a little raised above the 
surrounding figures, and her face is so sad and beauti- 
ful. But the figure of Christ — ah ! I cannot describe 
the impression it made on me. I wish you could 
see it." 

"I am afraid there is not much chance of that just 
now, as it has already been exhibited in Stockholm," 
said Mr. Ashmead, "but I am glad you have seen it. 
Where did you leave Mr. Morley? I understood him 
to say that he would see you safely back to the hotel. 
Wouldn't he come in ? " 

" No," replied Harry ; " he came with us as far as the 
corner of the street ; but he said he had business to 



138 THE ASHMEADS. 

atteud to, and we could not lose our way after that ; 
so we did not bring hiiu any farther. I wish you had 
seen a shop we passed, with little statuettes and old 
brass ornaments in the windows, while just below was 
a basement where a fine stock of butter, eggs, and 
poultry were displayed. Right under the statuette 
windows was the sign, ^ H. Olmausen, Dealer in An- 
tiquities ' ; but it did not say wiiether the antiquities 
were above or below. Mr. Morley said, if be were 
the poulterer, he would get an injunction to stop the 
other fellow from exhibiting such a suggestive sign 
directly over his spring chickens.'^ 

" Were you too busy making jokes to ask him 
whether he would meet us at the boat at six o'clock 
this evening? " asked Mr. Ashmead, who was always 
amused at the way Harry mixed up the serious and 
the ludicrous in his sight-seeing. 

"Oh, he is coming, of course," replied Harry. "I 
don't believe we did exactly ask him," he added, 
pausing to reflect for a moment; " but, yes, of course 
he is coming with us ; for he did'nt say good-bye ; 
and you know he said yesterday he meant to go to 
Sweden.'^ 

" I think he had just remembered, or just heard 
about something important," said Mary; " for yester- 
dav, when you said that you would not have time to 
take us to see this picture, he remarked that he was 



THE ASHMEADS. 139 

quite at liberty ; but as we were coming back he 
looked at his watch, and seemed rather as though he 
had something on his mind.'' 

" Stuff! " exclaimed Harry, " he was laughing and 
talking all the time. Why, just after he pulled out 
his watch he was pointing out to us that high sound- 
ing name over the barber's shop, ^ Thorwaldsen 
Andersen.' " 

" Yes, and Harry wanted to go in and have his 
hair cut, just for the sake of saying that Thorwaldsen 
Andersen had done it," remarked Mary, with a mis- 
chievous twinkle in her bright eyes. 

" Well, it would only be for the sake of the name," 
retorted Harry. " I did get my hair cut the other 
day ; and the fellow had only ordinary arm-chairs in 
his shop ; and when he got done shaving a customer 
he just pointed across the shop to a basin with a jet of 
water playing in it, where the man might go and 
wash off the soap for himself; the barber had done 
with him. Fancy an American barber doing his 
w^ork in that careless style." 

^' And fancy an American barber shaving a man 
for two-and-a-half cents," replied his father. " That 
is all these men charge, and you cannot have every- 
thing at that price." 

" My dear boy, never mind the barbers just now ; 
but tell me if you have anything in your room that 



140 THE ASHMEADS. 

must go in this trunk before I lock it," said Mrs. 
-Ash mead. 

Harry, who was easily turned to something new, 
rushed off in a tremendous hurry to gather up his be- 
longings, and Mary began to help her mother. 

^' I am sorry I did not ask Mr. Morley positively 
whether he was going with us," she said, as she folded 
a dress-skirt before carrying it to her mother. "I 
hope w^e shall see him again." 

Mrs. Ashmead, who was kneeling before the trunk, 
glanced at her daughter with a slightly anxious pucker 
in her brow ; but Mary did not see it, and Harry's 
return with a heterogeneous collection of articles 
effectually banished all thought of anything but the 
miseries of packing for the time, at least. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THROUGH THE GOTHA CANAL. 

rpHE longest day had but recently thrown its lin- 
-^ gering shadows among the rocks and firs of 
Southern Sweden, when the steamer from Copenhagen 
came slowly into the dock one charming morning, at 
the thriving port of Gothenburg. On the vessel, pre- 
paring to step ashore among the other passengers, 
stood Mr. and Mrs. Ashmead, and Mary and Harry. 
The latter, struggling with a valise, a roll of rugs and 
umbrellas, and his own traveling satchel, had just 
found opportunity to ask Mary what hunter's imple- 
ments he reminded her of, and to give the answer 
" bear-traps " all in one breath before he reached the 
narrow passage of the gangway, and began, with these 
traps sticking out in every direction a final struggle to 
get oil shore, which he afterwards compared to the 
passage of a windmill through a forest. 

" That sounds exactly like Harry," said Mary, 
laughing, as they took their place in the omnibus 
which was to take them to their hotel. 

" I think that simile was good enough to be Mr. 

141 



142 THE ASHMEADS. 

Morley's," replied Harry. ''It is too bad that he 
isn't here. I wonder what kept him." 

" He must have missed the boat," said Mr. Ash- 
mead, " for he would have come to say good-bye in 
the afternoon, if he had changed his mind about com- 
ing with us." 

"May-be his business detained him," remarked 
Mary. ''I thought he looked as if it was something 
important that he had to attend to when he left us." 

All these surmises were only a repetition of similar 
ones that had been indulged in the evening before. 
The party had come on board the steamer in good 
time, and had secured their state-rooms. They had 
attempted to palm off their French and German on 
one or two of the officers, but with very indifferent 
success; and finally, not being able to extract any- 
thing in reply but Swedish and Danish from these in- 
dividuals, they had been obliged to content themselves 
with admiring the view, criticising their fellow-passen- 
gers, and wondering what had delayed Mr. Morley. 
Tiie last bell had rung; and, although Harry had 
several times thought he saw his friend approaching, 
each time it proved that he was mistaken. Loud were 
his regrets as they found themselves swinging out into 
the open channel without their friend on board. Mrs. 
Ashmead, however, seemed more absorbed in taking a 
last look at the unique tower of the church of " Our 



THE ASHMEADS. 143 

Saviour" on the left, with its curious external spiral 
stair-case, and the no less remarkable steeple marking 
the site of the ancient Bourse, and composed of the 
intertwined tails of three dragons, whose bodies rested 
on the sloping roof. 

Harry was not much impressed by these architec- 
tural curiosities ; but merely remarked that for a spire, 
a spiral stair-case seemed the most appropriate thing ; 
and when his sister tried to awaken his interest in tlie 
Bourse, by telling him that it was two hundred years 
old, he gave it as his opinion that '' those crocodiles 
might have got their tails untwisted in that time." 

Mr. Ashmead and Harry then walked up and down 
the length of the little vessel, while Mrs. Ashmead 
and Mary busied themselves in making sketches of 
the striking and picturesque scenery which they 
passed in rapid succession. In a little while Harry, 
who had been inspecting the dining-saloon, came back 
with the report that everybody was at supper. 

" You never saw anything like the way they do it," 
he exclaimed. "Some are sitting down ; but the most 
of them are standing up and walking about, eating 
bits of sandwiches, and helping themselves from time 
to time from a side table, all spread out in the queerest 
way with little plates of bread, ham, tongue, sausage, 
cheese, and other things. I should like to go in and 
try what it is like to eat that way." 



144 THE ASHMEADS. 

" Why, Harry, you only just now said that you had 
eaten so much at the hotel, that you never wanted to 
see a dinner-table again," exclaimed Mary. 

'' Well, for my part, I am glad that we dined before 
coming on board,'' said Mrs. Ashmead, " if that is 
the way in which they take their meals here." 

" Oh, look, there is the Skodborg, at the end of the 
Deer Park, where we went the other day ; and see, 
now w^e are approaching Helsingor. Oh, that castle 
is beautiful ! " cried Mary. 

^^You know the English name of the place, do 
you not, Mary?" said Mrs. Ashmead, quoting the 

lines : 

By thj' wild and stormy steep, Elsinore. 

"Oh, yes!" replied Mary, "I know that very 
well; and is this really Elsinore? But it does not 
look steep at all." 

" No," said Mrs. Ashmead. " Bayard Taylor was 
quite right in saying that the steepness existed alto- 
gether in the poet's imagination." 

" This is the place, then, w^here Shakespeare makes 
the ghost of Hamlet's father appear to the princes 
and soldiers," added Mary. "Oh! I must make a 
sketch of it." 

" This is also where the Sound dues Avere so long 
levied," remarked her father; "and opposite is Hel- 
singborg, where Beruadotte landed in Sweden." 



THE ASHMEADS. 145 

The time slipped away rapidly in looking at the en- 
chanting views, and in conversation; and it was not 
until they were well out in the Cattegat, with no land 
in sight, to the west of them, that Mr. Ashmead thought 
of looking at his watch. It was nearly ten o'clock ; 
but the day was lingering so, that even at that late hour, 
Mary was reading by the waning light, thus giving 
Harry a chance, which he did not fail to improve, 
to repeat to her the caution often given to himself 
about straining the eyes. So he sang in her ear: 

I know it is thrilling ; but if you are wise, 

You will shut up your book, as you're straining your eyes. 

There were hardly any hours of darkness that 
night. The sky was clear, and the twilight lasted till 
nearly eleven o'clock ; and soon after one o'clock, the 
first straight band of light was reflected across the 
water from the point where the sun was hastening at 
no great distance below the horizon to reach his place 
of rising. At one time a curious phenomena was 
visible ; for the moon was shining low down in the 
eastern sky, throwing across the water, from the 
horizon to the side of the steamer, a broad path of 
golden light, which was here met by the paler path 
of light coming from the sun, the two lines making 
an angle of not more than thirty degrees, and exactly 
reversing the usual description ; for here the moon- 

K 



146 THE ASHMEADS. 

light appeared warm and golden, compared to the 
first cold, silvery intimation of the light of day. 

Under such unusual circumstances, and with the 
strange, wakeful condition which the prolonged light 
of thl northern latitude is apt to produce on those 
Avho are not accustomed to it, it was hardly wonderful 
that our travelers did not secure more than a very few 
hours of sleep that night. They not only stayed on 
deck late, but they were up early in the morning, in 
order to enjoy to the full their first close view of the 
Swedish coast, with its great masses of rounded, 
grayish rocks, looking, as they lay against the horizon 
far off in the distance, like dense, soft clouds skirting 
the water's edge. Then there was a thick growth of 
evergreen trees ; and, as they entered the mouth of 
the Gotha Eiver, small patches of brilliant and deli- 
cate green appeared in the little, smiling valleys, 
showing where some skillful agriculturist's hand had 
taken a^dvantage of a chance bit of soil to raise crops 
for his own use, and grass and hay for his cattle. 

Gothenburg is one of the neatest and prettiest towns 
of its size that can be found in all Sweden. It boasts 
only a population of eighty thousand, but it is as 
beautifully and attractively laid out as if it had ten 
times that number. In the beauty and order of its 
parks, squares, drives, and public streets, can be seen 
the double effects of that system of restricting the 



THE A5HMEADS. 147 

sale of liquor, which has made its name familiar 
all over the world ; for the company to whom the 
monopoly of the spirit trade is granted by the author- 
ities, is bound to pay over the whole of its profits to 
the city, after dividing a small dividend among the 
shareholders, thus providing funds for municipal 
improvement. And, at most of the shops, spirits can 
only be purchased by the bottle, thus giving few 
opportunities for dram drinking. Moreover, where 
alcoholic beverages are allowed to be sold by the 
glass, it is forbidden to serve a customer with a second 
glass until two hours have elapsed since he had the 
first ; thus putting at least one potent barrier in the 
way of those inclined to excess. 

As the boat left for Stockholm in an hour or two, 
it was necessary for our friends to make their excur- 
sions very brief. There were no very remarkable 
monuments or buildings, though the Exchange, Gus- 
tavus Adolphus' statue, and the Museum, attracted 
not undeserved attention. It was very evident how 
much the town owed of its prosperity to the lumber 
trade, from its numerous saw-mills, and the quantity 
of lumber piled and stacked up along the piers. One 
wharf — that from which they embarked on the snug 
little steamer, " Wadstena," for tlieir trip up the Gotha 
Canal to Stockholm — was literally covered with queer 
little two-wheeled vehicles, loaded down with planks, 



]48 THE ASH MEADS. 

laid so as to intersect at the axle, and thence extend- 
ing forward on each side of the horse as far as the tip 
of the shafts, to which they were securely fastened. 

After leaving a note for Mr. Morley at the hotel, 
and again vaguely and fruitlessly wondering what 
had become of him, Mr. Ashmead managed to get 
his party safely on board the ^^ Wadstena,'' and the 
first few hours of the trip passed very pleasantly in 
^vatching the animated scenes of country life, as the 
little steamer glided swiftly and noiselessly along. 
Here was a huge castle, and presently they passed a 
church, with glistening white walls and steeple; here 
was a peasant cutting rushes to use in thatching his 
cottage, and there a group of merry children enjoying 
their summer holiday romping on the green banks. 

At one little village, where there were two or three 
locks to pass, a number of little boys were standing 
on the bank. One of their number was a musician. 
He was not very big, and his violin was smaller yet; 
but he managed to get quite a lively strain of music 
out of it, and fiddled away persistently. As the water 
flowed from the lock above into the one beneath, so 
did the melody flow forth from the little instrument; 
and, as the boat gradually rose to a higher level, so 
rose the musical frenzy of the performer; and when 
the gates were thrown open, and the boat advanced 
into the next lock, the young musician threw open his 



THE ASHAIEADS. 149 

jacket, worked his bow-arm yet more vigorously, and 
kept pace with the progress of the boat by stepping 
briskly forward to the rattle of the pennies that were 
plentifully showered upon him by the amused and 
liberally inclined passengers. But the boy certainly 
paid more attention to getting the best music possible 
out of the diminutive instrument, than he did to 
securing the profits which were the outcome of his 
endeavors. Would there were more like him ! He 
was attended by a crowd of boys whom he evidently 
trusted implicitly, though some of them were hardly 
worthy of this confidence. 

'' Just look at that fellow over there,'' said Harry, 
who with Mary was standing on the bridge by special 
favor of the captain. '^ I saw him put his foot on that 
penny." 

Some one had thrown a penny, which had rolled 
away into the grass, and this particular youth had 
gone for the apparent purpose of searching for it, but 
had instead adroitly placed his foot on the coin, and 
then pretended to look about for it, at the same time 
carefully managing not to move the concealing foot, 
but keeping it fixed while he moved around on it as 
on a pivot. 

Harry shook his finger at the young scamp, warn- 
ingly ; but the lad took no notice, and after a while, 
when he thought no one was looking, he stooped 



150 THE ASHMEADS. 

down quickly, picked up the coin, and put it in his 
pocket, with very great haste. 

^' Ah," said Mr. Ashmead, when Harry told him 
about it, "that boy will turn out badly yet, if he does 
not change his ways. A little thing like that is very 
significant as to character.'' 

As six o'clock approached — one could hardly say, 
as evening approached, since there were yet three or 
four hours of daylight in prospect — the boat turning 
aside, entered the first lock of the long series at 
Akversass, and most of the passengers stepped on 
shore to walk the mile or two which wa§ the distance 
to the village of Trollhattan. By doing this it was 
possible to obtain fine views of the Falls, which the 
canal here avoids by taking a very different course, 
from which nothing can be seen of the Falls them- 
selves. 

Through a long, well kept, wide path, striking 
along the banks of the stream, and passing by the 
lock that was blasted in the rock before this route was 
abandoned in favor of the more direct one, our party 
took their way in the wake of a brisk little bare- 
footed boy who acted as guide. As the party could 
neither understand him nor make themselves under- 
stood, very little information could be gained from 
him; but this was a matter of the less consequence, 
since probably he had not much to impart. 



THE ASHMEADS. 151 

lu a quarter of an hour they caught sight of the 
first fall, which is not one of the finest, though it makes 
a fine impression as one turns suddenly a bend in tlie 
course of the river. Soon, however, they came to an 
elevated rocky point overhauging the river, whence 
there w-as a fine view of the Helvetes Falls; from 
here also the larger falls could be seen in the distance. 
Another short walk, and the passage of a narrow 
bridge thirty or forty fee.t in length, led them to a 
rocky island directly in the centre of the finest and 
largest falls. The situation here was fascinating ; the 
rusii of the waters, the sense of isolation, the spray 
constantly drifting across the place, and the narrow- 
ness of the gorge through which this mighty mass of 
water forced its way, all combining to exert a power- 
fully enchanting influence on the spectator. The 
place is well named Trollhattan (magic hats). Some- 
thing of magic there surely is in such weird and wild 
spots, with their display of mighty forces and their 
wealth of grandly beauteous and awe-inspiring scenery. 

The boat was now seen approaching the last lock, 
and all the company got on board again, and were 
soon steaming onward, towards the great Wenern 
Lake, past the old castle of Horningholm, and the 
lime works of Oaxen." 

" How solidly the locks are built," said Mrs. Ash- 
mead. "Bayard Taylor had good cause to be pro- 



152 THE ASHMEADS. 

yoked at the boy whose stupidity in awakening the 
wrong passenger caused him to miss all this sight.'^ 

"Yes/' replied Mr. Ashmead; "I believe those 
who had charge of the work intended it to be a 
monument of their skill, which should last through 
the ages." 

"When was the work done?'' asked Harry. 

"It was begun in 1793; but it was not finished 
till 1832," replied his father. 

"Shall you be able to remember that, Harry?'' 
asked Mrs. Ash mead. 

" I don't know. I could remember it more easily, 
if I knew something else that happened at the same 
time." 

" Well, you do, think a moment ; what happened 
in 1793?" 

"Oh, I know; the French Revolution." 

"And the date 1832, said Mary, "always reminds 
me of Goethe, and Sir Walter Scott, who both died 
in that year." 

By evening of the second day the great Lake Wenern, 
sixty-six miles wide, had been passed, and the neigh- 
boring Lake Wetteru, and the Gotha Canal piercing its 
way through one of the most fertile parts of the coun- 
try, had been seen and admired. Lake Yiken, the 
highest point on the whole route, had been passed and 
now they were approaching Berg on Lake Roxen,and 



THE ASHMEADS. 153 

instead of being raised up they were now lowered by 
each succeeding lock, gradually down to the level of 
the Baltic, which was reached at Mem. Then began 
the picturesque route along the coast. There are two 
routes here, one going inside of the skdrgardj or chain 
of small coast islands, and the other keeping outside. 
The latter was taken, as the weather was fine and the 
wind favorable. Yet they kept close enough to these 
islands to have the enjoyment of some of the most 
charming scenery of the entire route, each island con- 
stantly changing its position with reference to the 
others and opening every moment fresh vistas, while 
the gneiss rocks and the forests of fir made pleasing 
contrasts of soft grey and dark green. 

"It is beautiful, certainly," said Mr. Ashmead. 
" Taking the part traversed by the Canal proper and 
this part together, I should say that the route reminds 
me of a combination of the Ocklawaha River in 
Florida and the Thousand Islands on the St. Law- 
rence, or the Lake scenery of Northern Canada. The 
narrow canal, with its sharp turns and the trees along 
the banks, recall forcibly the passage of the Ocklawaha 
River. Indeed several times I have half expected 
that we should run ashore, and have to be shoved off 
with a pole.'' 

"Some travelers have compared it to the Cale- 
donian Canal in Scotland," said Mrs. Ashmead. 



154 THE ASHMEADS. 

" The captain tells me that there are seventy-four of 
the locks altogether, and that the canal is free to ships 
of all nationalities." 

" I wonder how many go through in the course of 
a year," said Harry. 

" I think the number is something like four thou- 
sand." 

"What did they want to build the route for?" 

asked Harry. 

" The main object was no doubt to put Stockholm 
in direct communication with the North Sea, and to 
avoid the navigation and the dues of the Sound," re- 
plied his father. " Another object was to open a way 
for the lumber trade from the Gotha Elf and the Clara 
Elf down to Gothenberg." 

" What a queer island that is," said Harry, soon 
after the steamer had left Sodertelge, on the morning 
of the third day. 

" Where ? " said Mary. " Oh, yes I see, right in 
front. Why it looks exactly like a castle. I must 
sketch that." 

" What castle is that one," asked Harry, peering 
over his sister's shoulder and pointing to a page of her 
drawing-book. 

" That is the royal castle at Horningholm, from 
wiiose window John Bauer, one of the great Swedish 
leaders in the Thirty Years' War, fell when he was a 



THE ASHMEADS. 155 

little boy only eight years old. I have Dot sketched 
many castles, and I want to add this one to my stock, 
even if it is only made out of trees.'' 

^^ You will have a chance to see plenty of castles 
and palaces at Stockholm and in the vicinity," said 
the captain, who had just come up and heard this last 
remark. ^' There is the ^ Drottningsholm,' or the 
Queen's Palace, and the Heimdahl Koyal Palace up 
towards Upsala, besides the Royal Palace in Stock- 
holm itself, and Gripsholm, to which the incapable 
Gustavus IV. retired after being compelled to abdi- 
cate.'' 

Stockholm was originally nothing more than a 
small island lying in the Malaren Sea, and separated 
by a very narrow strip of water from the main land 
on either side. As time passed on, however, it spread 
over to the main land on both sides, north and south. 
On this original island, as in what is distinctively 
called the "City" in London, are situated most of the 
fine old buildings, and are also to be found the busiest 
streets and the largest commercial houses. E-iddars- 
holm is a still smaller island, lying to the west and 
very close to Stockholm. On it is situated the E,id- 
darholm Church, the oldest and most interesting 
church in the city. The tower of this edifice, with 
its unique iron tracery, like a fine piece of black lace, 
is the first thing to attract the attention of the traveler 



156 THE ASHMEADS. 

approaching from the west; and very glad our travel- 
ers were to see it rising up before them, and to feel 
that now at last they had reached that wonderful city, 
the " Venice of the North,'^ which was to be the 
farthest limit of their present trip, and where they felt 
sure a warm welcome would await them. 

^* Holm means island, and the word occurs con- 
stantly in names of places in Sweden, as Stockholm, 
Waxholm, Bornholai, and others,'^ said the captain. 

" I never even heard of those last two places," said 
Mary, who was gazing with great interest at the Rid- 
darholm Church, as they gradually approached the 
city. 

" Waxholm is the celebrated Swedish fortress, which 
guards from the Baltic the approach to Stockholm," 
said the captain, who just now was obliged to leave 
them, in order to attend to the bringing his steamer 
in to the wharf. '^ You should not fail to see Wax- 
holm, and also the pretty little villages and lakes and 
islands out in that direction '* ; — and so saying he 
hastened off, and was soon seen on the bridge carefully 
guiding the boat in amidst a crowd of other shipping, 
large and small. 

" You will remember the other place," said Mr. 
Ash mead, " when I remind you that the pastor at 
Copenhagen mentioned the death of the aged pastor 
Ryding.-' 



THE ASHMEADS. 157 

" Yes, I do remember," said Mary; "he was pastor 
at Bornholm ; and was there not some other circum- 
stance mentioned in connection with his name?" 

" He was one of the first that Mr. Kobner bap- 
tized at Copenhagen," replied Mr. Ashmead. 

" It was at his funeral too, that the Lutheran priest 
watched the minister so closely to discover whether he 
was infringing the rules about public speaking in the 
open air,'' said Harry, upon whom this latter circum- 
stance had evidently made a great impression. 

The vessel had by this time found a place to push 
her prow in at the crowded wharf, and the passen- 
gers, by passing through another vessel lying between 
them and the shore, landed and actually set foot in 
that beautiful city, which had for so long a time lain 
far off in the distance, the object of pleasant anticipa- 
tion, the fulfillment of which was hardly hoped for. 
At last it was actually before them and around them. 
Formerly it had seemed very remote indeed ; but now 
the distance to America did not seem anything very 
extraordinary. 



CHAPTER XII. 

AMUSING SEARCH FOR A FRIEND IN STOCKHOLM. 

"pEFORE we have seen a place, it is simply a part 
■^^ of the world ; after we have seen it, it is part of 
our world. The difference between the two ideas is 
very great. 

After reaching their hotel, Mr. Ashmead started out 
to call on the friend of whom Mr. Morley had spoken. 
Owing to the fact that Mr. Morley was not with them, 
Mr. Ashmead had not sent any word of their arrival, 
as he did not wish to give entire strangers the trouble 
of meeting them at the boat. The Ashmeads expected 
Mr. Morley by the earliest boat, but that could not 
come till two davs later ; so the onlv thins; to be done 
was to call at the address he had given them. 

Mr. Ashmead stepped into an open one-seated cab, 

drawn by two stout but lively horses, and soon found 

himself in front of a solid stone house with large, 

folding doors, not a porte-cochere, for there were steps 

up to it. Dismissing the cabman and going up a 

flight of stone steps, he found his farther passage 

barred by a closed door, bearing the name of the 

person whom he sought. On ringing the bell and 
158 



THE ASHMEADS. 159 

waiting for some time he heard footsteps coming clown 
the staircase overhead, and soon the door opened and 
a little man appeared. 

Mr. Ashmead, having no Swedish at his command, 
asked in German as the nearest approach to it, whether 
Mr. Lund was at home. 

Tlyis called forth a good deal more of a reply than 
Mr. Ash mead was prepared to grapple with. 

The only words that he was able to distinguish were 
jpa landet, and these he had learned in his youth from 
a Swede who was one of his school-mates. Jag gar 
pa landet meant, "I am going to the country,'^ so the 
inference was plain, and Mr. Ash mead made it in 
these words : 

" Herr Lund pa landet ? '' 

The little man nodded vigorously, waved his arm in 
the direction of Waxholm, and began a conversation 
which his hearer could not follow. 

The latter wished naturally enough to ask when 
Mr. Lund would be home, and drawing from his 
pocket a Baedecker's guide-book; which contained a 
scanty vocabulary of Swedish and English words, he 
proceeded to hunt through it for the desired phrase. 
Not' meeting with the success he expected, he next ex- 
tracted his watch from his vest pocket, and pointed to 
the figures on its face, with a view to finding out how 
long it would be before the gentleaian would return. 



160 THE ASHMEADS. 

Upon this the little man became very much inter- 
ested, and stepping out from the door-way, came down 
a step or two, pointed to the hour, and said something 
very fast. Mr. Ashmead could not understand, where- 
upon the man repeated it witli great earnestness and 
some variations. 

Mr. Ashmead looked at him in despair, as much as 
to say : 

'• You are not a stupid-looking man. But why can 
you not speak good, plain English ?'^ 

The little man, in his turn, looked hopelessly at Mr. 
Ashmead, as if he would say: 

'^You are an intelligent enough looking sort of 
a person. Why can you not speak good, sensible 
Swedish?'' 

Thev then both burst into a laugjh at the absurdity 
of the situation ; but Mr. Ash mead's resources were 
not yet exhausted. He felt sure that this man must 
be Mr. Lund's servant, and he intended to ask him if 
he could find the appropriate word in Baedecker, 
After a short search he tried again. 

"Tjener Lund's?" 

To this, the man shook his head vigorously, and 
began to hunt over the page himself, thinking he 
might get some help from it; but, not being so ac- 
customed to dealing with books as his interlocutor, 
he soon gave up the attempt. He tlien said : 



THE ASHMEADS. 161 

^^Wanta lytet'^ and beckoned to the gentleman, 
and pointed up-stairs. 

"TFanto/^ Mr. Ashmead thought he could under- 
stand ; it sounded somewhat like the German for 
" wait/^ and as the cabman had gone, and there seemed 
nothing better to do, Mr. Ashmead accepted the in- 
vitation to wait a little, and followed the man up- 
stairs into a small room under the roof, where a 
cobbler's bench and tools, and a pile of old shoes, 
showed plainly the business which the little man 
followed. Handing a chair to his guest, the cobbler 
sat down and busied himself at his work, while Mr. 
Ashmead looked out appropriate sentences from his 
book, and experimented with them, on his new 
friend, who every now and then fell into a fit of 
laughter, as the thought of the desperate attempts 
at conversation recurred to him. 

Just as Mr. Ashmead was piecing together a sen- 
tence expressive of his regret at giving the busy 
little man so much trouble, the latter went to the 
door, listened a moment, and then said : 

" Hemma, hemma, Lund, hemmaj^ and pointed 
down-stairs, and nodded vehementlv, looking: ex- 
ceedingly pleased. 

Mr. Ashmead conjectured that " Hemma '^ meant 
that Mr. Lund had come home; and rose to follow 
his guide down-stairs, knocking his head as he did 



162 THE ASHMEADS. 

SO against the low cloor-way, at which the little man 
ao-aiii lauo^hed im moderately, at the same time look- 
ing at the ceiling in as stern a manner as possible, 
as if to reprove it for being so low. They found 
that it was not Mr. Lund, but his servant. The 
woman was, however, able to speak enough English 
to give the information, that her master was at his 
summer residence, though he would probably be in 
town again the next day. She asked if the gentle- 
man's name was Morley ; and on learning that he 
"was an acquaintance of Mr. Morley's, she said that 
her master expected the latter gentleman, and had 
left a letter for him, when he should arrive. Mr. 
Ash mead, after again expressing his thanks, and say- 
ing that he would call the next day, took his leave ; 
while the little cobbler tripped up-stairs again to his 
last, no doubt laughing, as he went. 

When Mr. Ashmead called on the following day, he 
"was met at the door by a gentleman just going out, 
who stopped at once, saying : 

" Is not this the gentleman who was traveling with 
Mr. Morley ? " 

^^ Yes,'' replied Mr. Ashmead, greatly relieved to 
find himself addressed in good English. " My name 
is Ashmead, and I presume I have the pleasure of 
speaking with Mr. Lund." 

'•'' That is my name," replied the other, as he held 



THE ASHMEADS. 163 

out his hand in cordial greeting. " I have just re- 
ceived a letter from Mr. Morley in which he speaks 
of you and your family in very warm terms, and 
regrets that an unexpected business complication 
prevented him from accompanying you, as he had 
expected." 

^' He could not have regretted it more than we 
did/' replied Mr. Ashmead. ^' We have owed much 
of the profit and enjoyment of our trip to having been 
so fortunate as to make his acquaintance.'' 

" He also says that he will never forgive me 
if I let you go away from here before he is able 
to come on, which will be at the farthest in two 
weeks ; and in my own behalf, as well as in his, I 
hope that I shall be able to persuade you to remain 
with us." 

"That is very kind," said Mr. Ashmead. "lean 
assure you that what we have already seen of Sweden 
has only made us anxious to see more of the country, 
and of the manners and customs of the inhabitants." 

" Well, now you see we are living in the country, 
as my servant told you." 

"Yes; and as the little col)bler told me with great 
difficulty," — and here Mr. Ashmead recounted his 
adventure. 

" I think," said Mr. Lund, "that if you were to 
come out to us to-morrow, it would be very pleasant ; 



164 THE ASHMEADS. 

my sister will not be coming to town for a day or two. 
But if you go out with me in the morning, you could 
see something of our surroundings ; and if you could 
put up with our poor accommodations for a few days, 
we should be delighted to have you stay with us ; and 
then when you want to see anything of Stockholm, it 
is but an hour's trip into town by boat." 

Although much attracted by this invitation, Mr. 
Ashmead would have declined it on account-of the 
size of his party ; but his new acquaintance assured 
him that it would only add to their pleasure to receive 
his wife and children, and pressed his invitation with 
such cordial hospitality, that it really seemed impossi- 
ble to decline without hurting him. 

Mr. Ashmead, therefore, urged Mr. Lund to come 
with him to the hotel, in order that Mrs. Ashmead 
mitrht be consulted in the matter ; but they had not 
gone far when they met her, with Mary and Harry, 
coming to join her husband. 

The sound of their own language and Mr. Lund's 
cordial manners, made them feel acquainted with him 
at once, and he soon repeated his invitation, adding: 

"We Baptists are particularly glad to meet a 
brother from your grand, free country ; and there are 
many of our brethren here who will never pardon me 
if I do not persuade you to stay." 

" I am sure it will be a great pleasure to us," re- 



THE ASHMEADS. 165 

plied Mrs. Ashmead. " My husband only fears that 
we are too large a party to impose upon your hos- 
pitality." 

" Do not mention such a thing," exclaimed Mr. 
Lund. " I could not spare one of you. — Then we 
shall consider that settled." 

They soon found themselves strolling quietly along 
in front of the Grand Hotel, and chatting with as 
lively interest as though they had known him for 
weeks instead of for only a few minutes. A word in 
regard to this gentleman may not be out of place. 

He was a man of middle age, widely traveled and 
well read ; one who, though not a minister, belonged 
to that large and useful class of thoroughly earnest 
Christian men, whose words and example are often 
all the more effective, for the very reason that they are 
not in the regular ministry. Mr. Lund had spent 
several years in America, and had read, thought, and 
observed to such good purpose, that he had attained 
that to which comparatively few in either country 
can lay claim — a thorough acquaintance with the lan- 
guage, and, above all, an impartial estimate of the 
resources, merits, and defects of the two countries. 

With this wide range of knowledge was combined 
a pleasant address and a cordial frankness, w^iich soon 
made our friends feel as if they had known him for a 
life-time. Add to this that he spoke English perfectly, 



166 THE ASHMEADS. 

and had to a cousiderable degree that sense of humor, 
which, if Shakespeare had only thought to mention it, 
is as excellent a thing in man as a low voice is in 
woman, and it will not be wondered at that Harry 
was already beginning to feel consoled for the absence 
of Mr. Morley, and that the others could hardly 
realize that they were in a strange country. 

They had just reached the point where a fine statue 
faces the imposing square mass of the Royal Palace, 
situated on the opposite shore. 

" Whose statue is that?" asked Mrs. Ashmead. 
" That is our great hero Charles XII.," replied 
Mr. Lund ; " and a little farther back is the one of 
Charles XIII." 

Proceeding a few hundred feet they entered the 
open market-place, called after this not very popular 
kino;. 

" It is a curious commentary on the blind impar- 
tiality with which bronze honors are meted out by 
undiscriminating municipalities, that here within a 
few steps of each other stand the effigies of one of the 
most deserving and one of the most undeserving of 
Sweden's rulers, one of the most popular and one of 
the most unpopular ; and the statue of one is hardly 
less fine than that of the other." 

" I think this one is the finest," said Harry, who 
had been examining with great interest the magnificent 



THE ASHMEADS. 167 

lions at the base. " I would rather have lions around 
my statue than those pots at eacli corner of the statue 
of Charles XII." 

"Pots! just listen to the boy," exclaimed Mary, 
laughing. " Those are not pots at all ; they are 
mortars." 

" Well, what have they got lids on them for if they 
are not pots ? " 

" Those lids, as you call them, are tompions. What 
a boy you are ! I suppose you thought Charles XII. 
had some soup on boiling to strengthen him for his 
long watch," replied his sister. 

• " Well, I'd rather have this statue anyhow. They 
made that one of Charles XII. w^ith his coat-tails 
flying out behind, as if there was a very strong wind 
in front of him ; and when the wind is just the other 
way, as it is this morning, it looks absurd." 

Mr. Lund smiled at the odd criticism, but added, 
very pleasantly : 

" Others beside you have compared those little 
mortars to pots, and the fancied resemblance has given 
point to a very cutting saying expressive of the popu- 
lar estimate of the two monarchs. * Here,' they say, 
referring to the statue of Charles XII., ^ is the lion 
surrounded by pots, and yonder ' referring to this 
statue 'h the pot (a Swedish term of reproach) sur- 
rounded by lions.' There was a great popular excite- 



168 THE ASHMEADS. 

ment when this statue was set up ; and threats were 
made to destroy it or disfigure it/^ 

" Oh, if that's the case/' said Harry, who in com- 
mon with most boys had no admiration except for the 
brave and noble, " I take back all I said about the 
other statue. I only w^ish they had put the lions 
around him instead of around this one." 

Mr. Lund now proposed that they should visit the 
Ethnographic Museum, or at least that part of it 
situated nearer to their present position. 

" This remarkable and widely celebrated collection 
is at present divided into several sections, each of 
which is contained in a separate building in different 
parts of the city," explained Mr. Lund ; " but there 
is, I am glad to say, a movement on foot which will 
bring the entire invaluable collection under one roof 
and one management. We shall then have a record 
of the life of the Swedish people as displayed in their 
costumes, implements, and various other antiquarian 
remains, which will be unsurpassed, if not unrivaled, 
by that of any other country." 

As they stood before the carefully executed groups, 
illustrating scenes from the life of the inhabitants of 
the various provinces, Mary recalled the groups of the 
same character at the Centennial Exhibition in Phila- 
delphia. 

" But those, fine as they were, could not compare 



THE ASHMEADS. 169 

with these in accuracy of detail, and lifelilve propor- 
tions and postures," she remarked. 

There were half a dozen or more of these groups, 
each in a separate compartment, having every detail 
carefully attended to with due regard to the place and 
time which it was intended to represent. Chairs, 
tables, table utensils, fire-places, the slightest variation 
in the dress of the figures composing the group — all 
were given with great faithfulness to nature. In 
front of each group were seats conveniently arranged 
for the accommodation of spectators. 

Then in long rows of cases were displayed interest- 
ing specimens of different utensils and implements, 
articles of furniture and of domestic use, all admira- 
bly classified and arranged. 

" These,'' said Mr. Lund, pointing to a collection 
of long, heavy staves of about two or three feet in 
length, "these are the staves on which it was the cus- 
tom to write the royal decrees which were afterwards 
passed from hand to hand." 

" Here are beautifully-carved knife-handles too," 
said Mrs. Ashmead, thinking to interest Harry ; but 
the latter had caught sight of a group at the end of 
the large gallery which attracted him so powerfully 
that no knife-handle could stop him. 

The others followed more at their leisure, examining 
the curious and beautiful articles on every side. On 



170 THE ASHMEADS. 

arriving at this last group they did not wonder that 
Harry had rushed off as soon as he cauo^ht si^-ht of it. 
It represented a scene in Lapland ; and was perfectly 
marvelous in its life-likeness. There w^as the tent, 
and here in the foreground was a Lapp snugly en- 
sconced in his little sledge, with the reindeer securely 
fastened to it by a single trace and guided by a single 
rein. Just at one side were two other Lapps pushing 
aside the bouo-hs of the fir trees as they emers^ed from 
the forest. In the distance were the snow-clad hills, 
and the ice-bound river, Avhile the figures of dogs, 
reindeer, and men in the foreground, made the scene 
extremely realistic. Harry found it hard to tear him- 
self away from all these wonders; but as Mr. Ash- 
mead wished to see some of the old books at the 
Koyal Library before returning to the hotel, he con- 
sented to be led away. 

Just as they reached the Library the rain which 
had been threatening began, and they were glad to get 
under cover. The Library at Upsala still has the 
greatest Bibliographical treasure of which Sweden is 
possessed, in the shape of the first translation of the 
Bible, that of Ulfilas. But there were some very 
remarkable and valuable works displayed in the care- 
fully tended and guarded cases at Stockholm. 

'^ Here," said Mr. Lund, " is one of the gems of 
this collection," and throwing back the cloth cover 



THE ASIIMEADS. 171 

from the glass case, — for they were admitted by 
special permission, it not being the regular visitors' 
day, — he pointed to a copy of the Codex Aureus, with 
a note stating that it was bought by Earl Aelfric, 
from the Vikings, in 880. It is printed on alternate 
white and purple parchment, and contains the Four 
Gospels from an Irish manuscript dating from the fifth 
century. 

Here also is a copy of the travels of Marco Polo, 
in old French, and dating from the fourteenth 
century. 

"And just look at this old chart; it has not a sign 
of America on it,'' said Harry. 

" No wonder," replied his father, " for, as you can 
see by looking at the descriptive label, it was made at 
Venice about the middle of the fifteenth century; and 
America was not discovered till the latter part of that 
century." 

There were many other remarkable and curious 
old documeiils; especially were they interested in 
one immense book, which had a whole stand to 
itself This was the Gigat Bible, or Devil's Bible, 
so called from the wonderful, and extraordinary rep- 
resentation of the devil, which adorns one of its 
pages. The book, which is about three feet long, 
by one and a half wide, is open, and the pages are 
rolled back, so as partially to disclose the form of 



172 THE ASHMEADS. 

his Satanic Majesty, as it presented itself to the 
Bohemian artist, in the seventeenth century. ^lary 
was so much struck by this picture, that she sketched 
a hasty outline of it, together with the page that 
contained it. 

"Where did this queer Bible come from?" asked 
Harry. 

"It was brought from Prague, in the year 1648^ 
at the close of the Thirty Years' War," replied 
Mr. Lund. 

"One often hears of the Mazarin, or Gutenburg, 
Bible, and other copies, which are named from 
some curious error, or strange term; but, I never 
heard of this before," said Mrs. Ashmead. 

After lookino; at the free readino; and writino;- 
room, with its stores of volumes, readily accessible 
to each comer, without the formality of application, 
they were just on the point of turning homewards, 
when Mr. Lund said: 

"It has cleared oif beautifully, while we were in 
the Library. Now, what do you say, if we take a 
look at the new church, built by one of our former 
members? It is but a short distance from here; 
and, as we are so near it, I should like very much 
to see it." 

They were all perfectly willing to take this farther 
walk. They soon came to a fine building in one 



THE ASHMEADS. 173 

of the best parts of the city, and ascending a wind- 
ing staircase, stood in a large, and very neatly and 
tastefully decorated auditorium. 

"You said one of the former members, did you 
not?" asked Mr. Ashmead, inquiringly. 

" Yes, he was at one time one of our most valued 
members, and he aided the Theological School at its 
start. But unfortunately, not being satisfied with the 
way in which things were going, he withdrew and 
built this church." 

"Who conducts the services?" asked Mr. Ash- 
mead. 

" Oh, diiferent preachers are invited to occupy the 
pulpit, and a congregation is never lacking. It is 
much to be deplored that any one should sever his 
connection with a body of believers for any cause less 
than an absolute departure from truth. It is as if 
a family was continually in danger of breaking up 
for slight disagreements." 

On passing out of the door, Mr. Ashmead's atten- 
tion was caught by a hand-bill posted up. 

" That is for the Salvation Army," said Mr. Lund ; 
" they are to have the basement, on condition that they 
do not make so much noise as usual." 

" Is it possible that movement has extended as far 
as Stockholm?'^ cried Mrs. Ashmead. 

" Yes, they have been here for fully a year," re- 



174 THE ASHMEADS. 

plied Mr. Lund. " In the winter time their meetings 
are largely attended." 

" Do you think they do any good?" 
" If you put the question in that way ' any good/ 
the answer would certainly be' yes'; but if you were 
to say, Mo they do more good than harm?' you 
w^ould meet with many different estimates, varying 
according to the acquaintance which your informant 
had with the work." 

" What would your answer be to this latter form of 
the question ?" she asked. "I always had an idea 
that they merely made a travesty of religion, and 
Avere generally very eccentric people." 

" Probably your impression has been gained chiefly 
from reading the accounts current in the daily news- 
paper press. These are almost always in the nature of 
unfavorable incidents and comments. I do not re- 
member once to have seen in any newspaper, except 
their own publication, ' The War Cry,' allusion to 
any good results from their meetings." 

^' No, it is always that some of the officers were 
arrested, or that a great disturbance was made, and so 
forth." 

" Yes, and in this way one gets a very unfair and 
one-sided view of the matter, while at the same time 
imagining that he has gained quite an impartial idea, 
because in these davs of the wide circulation of the 



THE ASHMEADS. 175 

press, one can read about a thing and know a great 
deal about it while having no personal knowledge of 
it, whatever." 

" What you say seems to throw great discredit on 
the press." 

^' Not on the press, only on an inadequate use of it. 
The daily press, though a very powerful agency, is by 
uo means the only authority at hand. There are the 
magazines, the weekly religious press, the monthly 
reviews, religious and secular, the quarterlies ; and to 
these one must turn, in order to gain a full impression 
of what the opinion of the press is upon any import- 
ant subject. Now considering this broad field of 
criticism I should say that the balance of evidence 
was in favor of the Salvationists." 

"And what conclusion would your own personal 
observation lead you to?" asked Mrs. Ashmead. 

" About the same, only with a mucli larger balance 
to their credit," replied Mr. Lund; "for no one un- 
favorable instance has come under my observation, 
while the meetings I have attended have given me a 
strong idea of the earnestness and enthusiasm of the 
members. One meeting that I attended in London 
interested me exceedingly, and I have also been pres- 
ent at several of the meetings here. Indeed, on one 
occasion I was glad to exert myself to protect one of 
the captains, a young girl, from the insolence and 



176 THE ASHMEADS. 

roughness of the crowd that had gathered around the 
Salvationists in the sti'eet. But here we are at the 
Stromparterre.'^ 

During this talk the party had left the church and 
had walked back to the hotel, which they had just 
reached. Mr. and Mrs. Ashmead begged their com- 
panion to come in and dine with them; and Mr. Lund 
accepted the invitation as cordially as it was given. 

" But just one moment/' he added. "I must tele- 
phone to my sister by what boat to expect us to- 
morrow.'' 

He attended to this matter, and soon after met the 
ladies in the dining-room. 

" I thought you said Waxholm was ten or twelve 
miles from here," said Mr. Ashmead. "Have you 
telephonic communication with that place?" 

" Yes, indeed ; and not only with that place, but 
with almost every other place of resort around the 
city. You must not think that because we live in out 
of the way Sweden, as some people call it, we do not 
know what is going on in the world. We keep well 
up to the march of civilization, and in the matter of 
telephonic communication we are rather in advance of 
other nations; for no where is the telephoue more 
universally used." 

" What is the reason of that ? " asked Mr. Ash- 
mead. 



THE ASHMEADS. 177 

" Partly, I suppose, because there are such great 
numbers of little villages and summer resorts scattered 
on the neighboring islands, and on the shores of the 
beautiful lakes and inlets. In a place where the 
summer is so short, people naturally wish to make the 
most of the warm weather ; and every one who can, 
goes out of town ; but at the same time it is found 
necessary to keep up communication with the city. 
Then, too, in the depth of winter, this means of com- 
munication proves especially valuable." 

While talking, the party had seated themselves at 
the table, with its basket of inevitable hard, black 
bread, made in large, flat, circular cakes, which Harry 
called griddle cakes, because he said they looked about 
the same size and shape as an iron griddle, and just 
about as palatable. He afterwards found that they 
improved on fuller acquaintance. As the dinner was 
being served, Mrs. Ashmead said : 

" You were speaking of the Salvation Army meet- 
ing in London, Mr. Lund. I should like much to 
know your opinion of the work they do there. The 
accounts of their meetings and work seem very 
strange, and even startling." 

" I can readily understand that," replied Mr. 
Lund ; " yet with all their peculiar methods of work- 
ing, they do much iu a field which no other workers 

occupy so fully," replied Mr. Lund. "And they 

M 



178 THE ASHMEADS. 

have increased, until at present they number over lialf 
a million, in all parts of the world. I own that I 
have often been shocked by their extravagance of 
speech and manner. But then one must remember 
that the rough element of London and other English 
cities, is something beyond most people's comprehen- 
sion, and that these methods are probably well adapted 
to their needs. At all events, one feels that the Salva- 
tionists have chosen efficacious methods when one 
reads the frequent testimonies of police and municipal 
authorities to the improved condition of notoriously 
bad quarters in consequence of their visits." 

" Do they include temperance work in their pro- 
gramme?'' asked Mrs. Ashmead, who, as president 
of one of those local societies, which, combined under 
the general title, *' Women's Christian Temperance 
Union," form such a powerful influence for good in 
our own country, naturally took a strong interest in 
anything pertaining to this subject. 

"Yes, indeed, that is one of their fundamental 
principles ; and there is no more striking illustration 
of the hold that they obtain on the masses than the 
fact that each one of those half million recruits, 
drawn from the class most susceptible to the attractions 
of the low bar-rooms, pledges himself to total absti- 
nence." 

" That is remarkable," replied Mrs. Ashmead ; "and 



THE ASHMEAUS. 179 

that alone should insure for them the good wishes of 
any one interested in the uplifting of fallen and de- 
praved humanity." 

" One singular fact, showing with what skill the 
tunes and songs used are adapted to catch the popular 
ear, was mentioned to me by one of the secretaries at 
the head-quarters in Queen Victoria Street. In one 
of the monster political demonstrations, at the time of 
the passage of the last Reform Bill, it was desired to 
have some spirited tune to sing, in order to keep the 
crowd in a good humor, and nothing better suggested 
itself than one of the Salvation Army tunes. The 
multitude joined in heartily and vigorously, and 
the critical moment was thus safely passed." 

Mr. Ashmead was greatly pleased at his good for- 
tune in meeting with Mr. Lund who, to the great and 
indispensable quality of being able to converse in 
English, added the charm of a singularly thoughtful 
and observant mind. 

He soon took occasion to ask news of the Rev. 
Andreas Wiberg, so widely known and loved, and 
for many years one of the most diligent workers for 
Christ in the Swedish field. 

" I am grieved to have to say, that the health of 
this noble Christian is in a sadly precarious state," 
replied Mr. Lund. "He is at present out of town.'' 

" I am very sorry to hear such a bad account of his 



180 THE ASHMEADS. 

health/' said Mr. Ashmead. " I had looked forward 
to the pleasure of meeting him ; but I hope he will 
be much better before w^e leave, and that it may yet 
be possible for us to see him, and wish him God-speed 
in the good cause." 

Mrs. Ashmead joined with her husband in express- 
ing her regrets, and asked with much sympathy the 
nature of Dr. Wiberg's illness. 

^' Ah, madame," replied Mr. Lund, " I can only 
refer you to his labors. Since the month of July 
1852, when he w^as baptized in Copenhagen by the 
Rev. Frederic Olaus Nilsson, the pastor of the Bap- 
tist Church there, his whole life has been devoted to 
the work of spreading the gospel and the truth concern- 
ing our Master's commands to his followers ; and in 
this country such devotion was repaid by the authori- 
ties with persecutions and trials, such as might well 
break down even the strongest constitution.'' 

" I thought that Dr. Wiberg was a native of 
Sweden," said Mary. "How did it happen that he 
was baptized in Copenhagen ? Had not Mr. Nilssou 
organized a Baptist Church in Sweden before 1850?" 

" The church in Hamburg sent over the Rev. A. 
P. Foerster," replied Mr. Lund, "■ and he organized 
the first Swedish Baptist Church, a small church of 
six members, in 1848. Mr. Nilsson was not at the 
time ordained, but he had been baptized by Dr.Oncken 



THE ASHMEADS. 181 

in the Elbe, the preceeding year ; and he and his wife 
were among this small number of believers. They 
were, however, persecuted from the first. Mobs col- 
lected around their place of worship ; they were at- 
tacked with stones ; and were on the verge of starva- 
tion, because employment in their different trades was 
refused them." 

"Was that what obliged Mr. Nilsson to go to 
Copenhagen?" asked Mary. 

"Yes, he had been ordained in Hamburg in the 
spring of 1849, but on his return he was arrested and 
imprisoned; and finally, in the following year sentence 
of banishment was pronounced against him by the 
High Court of Justice," said Mr. Lund. 

" Oh, how sad ! " exclaimed Mary. " Then the 
church was disbanded, I suppose." 

" Mr. Nilsson did not leave at once," replied Mr. 
Lund ; " owing to legal delays he was able to defer 
his departure until July, 1851 ; and he then left the 
small and scattered company of baptized believers 
under the care of his brother Bernhardt Nilsson, and 
went to Copenhagen." 

" It seems almost incredible that the Baptists should 
hav^e survived as a church against such opposition," 
said Mrs. Ash mead. 

"It teaches us that God's truth cannot be crushed 
by the opposition of prejudiced and evil disposed 



182 THE ASHMEADS. 

men/' replied Mr. Lund; ^'but, certainly, we never 
could have attained the results that are now before 
us, without the aid that we have received from 
friends outside our own country. You must see 
our Bethel Kapellet, and the Salem Kapellet, that 
we had to erect in the southern part of the city, 
when the Bethel proved too small for our increasing 
numbers. In these, we have substantial evidence 
of the kindly feelings of our American brethren 
toward us." 

^'Let me see," said Mr. Ashmead; ^'1848— that 
was just the year before I made my first trip to 
Europe ; and a careless young fellow I was, then. 
What a wonderful growth has been going on through 
these thirty odd years! " 

'^Indeed, you may well say that," replied Mr. 
Lund. "From six members to more than twenty- 
six thousand; and now, if the publishing business 
that Rev. Jonas Stadling, Dr. Wiberg's son-in-law, 
is pushing with so much hearty and skillful energy, 
takes firm root, we may look for much larger increase 
in the next twenty or thirty years." 

While this conversation was going on, the matsedel 
(bill of fare) was being thoroughly discussed ; and 
now the hard black bread, over which Harry had been 
making sundry dubious grimaces, came in for its 
share of comments and jokes. If the bread was not 



THE ASHMEADS. 183 

to Harry's taste, the jokes were very palatable ; for 
he began to think the conversation had taken far too 
serious a turn. Mr. Lund, who could sympathize 
with a merry boy as well as with his thoughtful 
elders, turned readily to a lighter chat, and tried, 
rather unsuccessfully, to explain to his friends the 
appearance of two other kinds of hard white bread 
very much used in the north, but rarely seen in Stock- 
holm. 

^' Well,'' he said, " if you can only stay here long 
enough, we could make a trip up that way ; and you 
could see that and a great many other curious things 
with your own eyes." 

To Mrs. Ashmead's surprise, her husband seemed 
to be attracted by this suggestion. 

" What sort of accommodations would we find for 
ladies ? " he inquired. 

Mr. Lund looked rather dubious, and Mrs. Ash- 
mead hastily exclaimed : 

" Oh ! I hardly think that is an excursion which 
I could make, though I have no doubt that you 
would find it extremely interesting." 

" We can discuss it all to-morrow," said Mr. Lund. 
" If it is agreeable to you, I will call here in the 
morning to take you to the boat." 

Mr. Ashmead assured him that it would not be 
necessary to take that trouble, as they would meet 



184 THE ASHMEADS. 

liira on board ; but Mr. Lund smilingly shook his 
head, and remarked: 

"You do not know our wharves yet. With so 
many boats coming and going, a stranger might easily 
get confused, and get on board the wrong one. It 
will be no trouble at all for rae to call for you ; and 
it would be a very serious trouble, both for myself 
and my sister, if we could not welcome you at our 
little country home at Waxholm to-morrow morn- 
ing." 

With this agreement, he took leave of them until 
the following day. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A CORDIAL WELCOME AT WAXHOLM. 

rriHE following morning the whole party found 
themselves on board the little steamer lying at 
the foot of the wharf, near the fine statue of Gus- 
tave III. 

" That is the monument erected by Gustave lY. in 
commemoration of the zeal and fidelity displayed by 
the inhabitants of Stockholm, during the war with 
Russia in 1788. The royal toothpick, as it is famil- 
iarly called by the towns-people," said Mr. Lund, in 
reply to a question from Mary concerning a fine 
obelisk standing at the top of the Slottsbacken, or 
Palace Hill, opposite the southeastern portion of the 
royal Palace. 

The travelers had found that his escort was by no 
means unneeded ; for the wharves were, as he had 
said, confusing to strangers. It was a bright and 
busy scene ; every foot of wharf-room was taken up 
by the steamers and steam-launches, large and small. 
Indeed, in many places, the vessels were lying two, or 
even three, deep, so that the passengers embarking on 
the outside one would have to pass through one or 

185 



186 THE ASHMEADS. 

two Other vessels. The wide expanse of the fine, 
solid, granite quays was alive with people, and with 
vehicles of different kinds, some swiftly pas^fing and 
repassing, and others stationary. The horses were 
not tied, but ingeniously prevented from running 
away by a strap fastened around both front legs above 
the knee. The water was covered with little steamers 
flying in every direction, and ever and anon folding 
down their little jointed smoke-stacks, as they passed 
under the low, broad arches of the multitude of 
bridges, which are necessary to connect the eight 
islands and two peninsulas on which Stockholm, to 
quote the graphic words of Bayard Taylor, " like a 
northern eao^let nested on the islands and shores of 
the pale green Malar Lake.'' 

The little steamer soon started and glided swiftly 
along, now on this side, now on that side of the broad 
and tranquil sheet of water with its pine and birch- 
covered banks, until after the lapse of an hour or so 
she shot suddenly out from between two closely ap- 
proaching points of land into a wide expanse of 
water, and opposite to them lay the beautiful island 
of Waxholm, with its stern and massive fortress 
guarding the narrow entrance from the Baltic. 

Stepping on shore at the neat little village which 
lies near and takes its name from the fortress, our 
friends were met by a lady and a youth, who had 



THE ASHMEADS. 187 

come down in a sail-boat from their summer bouse 
further up the iulet. 

The former, a fiue looking lady of grave manners, 
was introduced by Mr. Lund as his sister, Mrs. Lager- 
bring ; the latter was her only son, a bright young 
fellow of twenty, who handled the little craft very 
skillfully as he turned the prow towards the pictur- 
esque little villa which gleamed out from the dark 
mass of woods to the north. 

Each house along the banks had its own little land- 
ing place, and each family owned a boat or two. 
Tiiese were constantly in requisition during the bright 
summer days either for purposes of business or of 
pleasure, while farther means of communication are 
afforded by the little steamers, which make trips at 
stated times, stopping at private landings whenever 
signaled. 

At Mr. Lund's house a prettily kept garden came 
down to the water's edge, occupying the whole of the 
steep slope between the house and the landing. Here 
were raised strawberries, currants, raspberries, all of 
the very finest kind, and in this northern latitude still 
in full bearing in the middle of July. 

The young man who, in common with his mother 
and his uncle spoke English very well, asked Harry 
if he knew the Sw^edish name for the strawberry. 

^' Oh, yes ! '' replied the boy. " As we w^ere passing 



188 THE ASHMEADS. 

one of the locks on the Gotha Canal, a lot of little 
boys and girls came on board with quantities of 
strawberries, and they called them ' sm nitron/ They 
were good too." 

" But those were not strawberries like these," said 
Carl Lagerbring; " those were the berries that grow in 
the woods, small berries, what you call " 

^' Wild strawberries," suggested Harry. 

" Yes, that is it ; wild strawberries, they are called 
^smultron'; but these that grow in gardens we call 
*jord-gubbar,' which means ^ old men of the earth.'" 

Harry was amused at this odd name, but added : 

" That exactly describes some of the early berries 
that they bring from the South in our country and 
charge thirty cents apiece for. They are of the earth, 
earthy." 

While they were seated at dinner, which was served 
in the garden under the shade of the trees, Mr. Lund 
referred to the subject of a trip towards the north. 

* If you could only extend your visit long enough," 
he said, " we could go up to the mountains to a little 
country house where Carl and I spent a very pleasant 
vacation some years ago. You could see Sundsvall 
and Ostersund, two of the most important towns of 
northern Sweden, and entirely different from anything 
here in the south. We could stay at the country 
house, where there is good fishing; and at the differ- 



THE ASHMEADS. 189 

ent places we stop at you could get a better idea of 
Swedish life tlian in any other way/' 

The prospect was too enticing to be looked on with 
anything but favor, and Mr. Ashmead was anxious to 
go ; but unfortunately Mrs. Ashmead was feeling the 
effects of so much traveling in one of her old attacks 
of headache. It was therefore out of the question to 
ask her to go on this extended tour. She, however, 
was very anxious that Mr. Ashmead should not give 
it up on her account. Mrs. Lagerbring also insisted 
that all Mrs. Ashmead needed was rest and quiet. 

" Just leave her to me/' she said. " I will take care 
of her ; and when you come back from your trip you 
will find her all right again.'' 

Mary, whose tender care did more than anything 
else to help her mother in these trying attacks, would 
not leave her. After a good deal of discussion, it was 
at last decided that Mr. Ashmead had better make the 
trip alone with Mr. Lund. Harry felt inclined to be 
disappointed when he thought of the country farm- 
house and the fishing which their host had spoken of; 
but the companionship of Carl, with whom he had 
already struck up a warm friendship, and the promise 
of plenty of boating and sailing, consoled him. 

It was arranged that the two gentlemen should go 
back to Stockholm the next day, to take the steamer 
for Sundsvall. 



190 THE ASHMEADS. 

In the evening they took a stroll through the pine 
woods in the rear of the house, and were surprised to 
find several beautiful little farms nestling in the very 
heart of the island. The view from an elevated 
point which they reached, the well-kept farm with its 
red house trimmed with white in the foreground, the 
string of pretty little villas along the shore in the dis- 
tance, the village of Waxholm surmounted by its 
picturesque wind-mill and backed by its solid fortress, 
and beyond all the fascinating and indefinable charm 
of the Swedish " labyrinth of land and water," — all 
called forth many expressions of admiration and sur- 
prise from the visitors. 

Mr. Ashmead remarked that, although the houses 
were neat and picturesque, there were none which 
looked as expensive nor as substantial as those which 
he had seen at many points not more favored. 

^^ Ah," said Mr. Lund, ^' that is easily explained. 
This island belongs to the government, and private 
citizens are allowed to build on it only with the under- 
standing that, in case of war, every building shall be 
razed to the ground. So you see there is no great in- 
ducement to build very fine or costly structures, even 
tliough there is no immediate prospect of war." 

AVhen they returned they found an invitation to 
take tea with a neighbor, and the entire party ad- 
journed to the house next door. Everything was 



THE ASHMEADS. 191 

quite informal, and the guests stood around the table 
on which were placed a number of little dishes, a 
plate of butter, and one of bread cut in slices, with 
the usual supply of hard biscuit. 

After a moment's silence the hostess invited the 
guests to help themselves, and those who were accus- 
tomed to this method would break off a piece of hard 
bread, or take a slice of soft bread, and butter it, re- 
placing the knife in the butter-dish after using it, and 
then with a fork select some relish — cheese, reindeer 
flesh, sausage, or salmon ; and afterward march up and 
down the room munching this sandwich. Those who 
were not accustomed to it tried to imitate the easy 
nonchalance of the others ; but with very indifferent 
success. Some of the company wandered into the 
next room, which looked out over the water, and 
Avould remain there chatting and eating until they 
came to the end of their morsel, when thry would 
return and make another descent upon the smorgas- 
bord. 

Mary had picked up a Swedish newspaper and was 
trying to read from it, calling into play her knowledge 
of German. 

^' Oh, I think it would be easy enough to read after 
a little practice,'' she exclaimed; "it is so much like 
English." 

" Yes, it is like English in a great many respects," 



192 THE ASHMEADS. 

replied Carl, who had brought his sandwich over to 
her corner; '^and for most English speaking persons 
it is easy to read, but hard to speak ; there is such 
a great preponderance of broad, full vowel sounds. It 
is a very musical language, in spite of its apparent 
keen incisive quality. Some one has compared it in 
this latter respect to a lot of chopping knives, and has 
said that if you were to bring a Swedish sentence in 
contact with one of another language, French or Ger- 
man, for instance, the Swedish would chop the other 
all to pieces.'^ 

" That is certainly a very striking simile," said 
Mary, laughing. " Am I to suppose then that the 
Swedes are good hands at the chop logic style of 
argument?'' 

" Well, without giving a direct answer to that ques- 
tion, I will undertake to prove to you that, in spite of 
your declaration that Swedish is like English, it is the 
very opposite of English." 

" How do you manage that? " 

The young man brought down an English-Swedish 
dictionary, and handing it to his companion, said : 

'^ Will you please look out the word for ^puss?' " 

Mary turned over the pages, and soon found the 
desired word. 

'' What is it ? " 

" Kisse." 



THE ASHMEADS. 193 

"Very well ; now please look for the word *kiss.' 
What is that?" 

" Puss." 

" Then my proposition is proved. The Swedish 
kisse is the English puss, and the Swedish piiss is the 
English JcissJ' 

" Chop logic enongh/' said Mary, laughing heartily. 

'^ And besides, if it is so much like English, please 
tell me what this means." And he WTote on a piece 
of paper "Bulljong." 

Mary looked at this critically. Harry peered over 
her shoulder, but neither could make anything of it, 
till Carl suggested that it was a kind of soup ; and 
then they caught tlie true word, " bouillon." 

'' ' Paviljong ' is another instance of the same sort, 
borrowed from the French," said Carl. 

Just at this moment, the hostess spoke to the young 
people, and exhorted them to help themselves. This 
they proceeded to do, and having disposed of several 
more sandwiches, and Mary, at CarFs suggestion, 
having tried some of the stewed " lingon " berries, — 
a delicious kind of red bilberry, much esteemed in 
Sweden, — coffee was brought on, with a basket of 
cakes, and rolls, and hard rusks. 

" Now," said the hostess, in Swedish, after Mary 
had finished her first cup, " will you not take some 
more?" 

N 



194 THE ASHMEADS. 

Maiy declined at first, when her hostess smilingly 
suggested : 

" En lytet pa torJ^ 

This Mary did not understand. In fact, the accom- 
panying gesture had alone enabled her to guess at the 
first invitation ; but Carl came to her assistance. 

^' That means, * Will you not take just a drop 
more?' '' he explained. 

"It is quite the proper thing to do," said Mr. 
Lund, who stood near, "just a little to top off with " ; 
and Mary passed her cup along all the more will- 
ingly, since the coffee, as is invariably the case in 
Sweden, was very good. 

"I thought you would find it good,'' said Mr. 
Lund ; " we Swedes are very fond of coffee. It used 
to be said that the iron exported did not suf&ce to 
balance the nation's coffee bill." 

After every one had been satisfied, the piano was 
opened, and music and singing filled up the rest of 
the evening. 

" I never heard such beautiful amateur singing," 
said Mary, afterwards, as she recounted the evening's 
pleasures in her mother's room ; " and as for the 
piano playing, that was exquisite. A gentleman 
played duets with his daughter, who could not have 
been more than fifteen, characteristic Swedish dances 
and marches, with brilliant variations ; and the deli- 



THE ASHMEADS. 195 

cacy and accuracy of touch was perfectly marvelous. 
I could not get to play like that in ten years/' And 
Mary sighed, as she thought of the six years already 
spent in gaining what was, after all, but a slippery 
and uncertain grasp on the subtle mysteries of the 
key-board ; yet she did not play badly, as playing 
goes now-a-days. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ON THE WAY TO THE SWEDISH NORRLAND. 

rPHE next morning it was necessary for Mr. Ash- 
-^ mead and Mr. Lund to start early, as both the 
gentlemen had business to attend to in Stockholm 
before the hour of sailing. 

The air was cool and bracing, and this short pre- 
liminary trip of ten miles would have given most 
people, not accustomed to the country, enough to talk 
about for a week. 

As they drew near to Stockholm, and passed on the 
left the busy ship-yards, and on the right the large 
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, a scene of entrancing beauty 
broke on their vision. From no point is the peculiar 
beauty of the city, founded by the powerful Earl 
Birger, more strikingly apparent. On the right is the 
broad esplanade of the northern city ; in the centre 
lies the city proper with its slender spires, handsome 
palace, substantial buildings, and fine quays fringed 
with noble shipping; and on the left rise the high 
bluffs of the southern city, covered with houses and 
crowded by the magnificent dome of the unique 
Church of St. Catharine. 

196 



THE ASHMEADS. 197 

" Did you see the Michaelis Church at Hamburg ? " 
inquired Mr. Lund of his companion, who stood 
gazing in admiration at the scene before him. 

" Yes ; is it not a wonderful structure ? " replied 
Mr. Ashmead; "the vast expanse of roof with the 
entire absence of supporting pillars struck me as being 
something quite unusual in the way of church build- 
ing, although I am not much versed in architectural 
subjects.'' 

" It is a remarkable specimen of architecture," said 
Mr. Lund. " Did any one tell you that the architect 
was obliged to flee in disgrace on account of the 
severe criticisms passed on his work, and the report 
that was started to the effect that the structure was 
insecure, and that it would be impossible for the walls 
to support the weight of the roof?" 

" I heard nothing of that." 

" Well, that, as I understand it, was the case. At 
all events the architect came here ; and, meeting with 
a more favorable reception, built that Church of St. 
Catharine's on the same plan as the one at Hamburg. 
Just back of that is our Salem Capellet, which is of 
more interest to us Baptists. But look there," he 
suddenly exclaimed, as they drew still nearer to the 
city. "There is something that is perhaps more 
remarkable and more strictly unique than the church," 
and he drew Mr. Ashmead's attention to the slowly 



198 THE ASHMEADS. 

ascending cage of an elevator, which, starting from 
the base of the hill, conveys passengers up to the level 
of the highest point, which is then easily reached by 
a slender yet firm iron bridge carried over the tops of 
the intervening houses. 

" I wonder how it is that w^e have never heard of 
that,'' said Mr. Ash mead. " I have read most books 
of northern travel, but have never seen this elevator 
even alluded to." 

" It has only been there about two years," replied 
Mr. Lund. " Jt was erected in the early part of 1883, 
I think." 

" It is the property of the city, I suppose." 

" No, it is owned by a private enterprise, started by 
an individual, who organized a company, put it up at 
an expense of about one hundred thousand dollars, 
and himself receives all over seven per cent, profits. 
It reverts to the city after the lapse of fifty years." 

" That must be a very good thing for the owners, I 
should think." 

''Yes, it pays well. You see, the Sudmalm, as the 
southern portion of the city is called, has grown very 
largely of late, and there are few passengers who 
cannot afford to pay the five ' ore' which it costs to go 
up. Coming down, the charge is only three ore." 

"Where does the bridge lead to?" asked Mr. 
Ash mead. 



THE ASHMEADS. 199 

"It comes out into the Kallargrand, very uear 
the celebrated Mosebacke Garden, which used to be 
so popular a resort for tourists that wished to get 
one of the fiuest views of the city and environs. 
All that is changed now, though; and the business 
of the garden is spoiled in a large degree, as strangers 
get the view from the bridge, or from the little cafe, 
which you see at the top of the elevator.'^ 

"How high is it?" asked Mr. Ashmead. 

"About one hundred and thirty or forty feet. 
You see the cage going up; well, it takes just 
about half a minute to get to the top.'^ 

"A very good rate of speed," said Mr. Ashmead. 

" Yes ; considering that they take eleven persons 
besides the attendant, it is very fair." 

" I have a friend who has had some experience 
with what they call 'lifts,' in England, and ' Fahr- 
stuhls/ in German hotels," said Mr. Ashmead ; " and 
he advises me carefully to shun taking a room on 
the upper floor, on the strength of an elevator figur- 
ing in the advertisement. These convenient affairs, 
he says, are generally closed for repairs about six 
days out of the week, and on the seventh day, go 
so slowly that you have to start from the ground 
floor about six o'clock, if you desire to be in bed 
before midnight." 

" I have no doubt, that if all these would do as 



200 THE ASHMEADS. 

well as our Stockholm elevator, uobody would com- 
plain," said Mr. Luud, laughing; "but here we 
are." 

The boat stopped, and the two friends stepped 
briskly ashore under the shadow of Gustavus III. 
Mr. Ashmead stopped a moment to regard the fine 
statue, and expressed his admiration. 

" Yes, it is a fine statue, and he was a good king," 
replied Mr. Lund ; " but we do not forget that he 
was the one who did more than any other to fasten 
around the necks of his people the galling yoke of 
intemperance." 

"I did not know that," said Mr. Ashmead. "It 
is a grave charge to be brought against any one, much 
more against a powerful ruler." 

" The great poet Bellman also, whose statue adorns 
the fine pleasure-garden of Hasselbacken, is open to 
the same criticism; as he, by his genius and sparkling 
fancy, ably seconded the efforts of the king to in- 
crease his revenue by encouraging the extensive sale 
and use of intoxicating liquors. But we must re- 
member that it was in his splendid reign that senti- 
ments in favor of religious liberty first received 
encouragement." 

"We must, also," added Mr. Ashmead, who was 
nothing, if not fair minded, " bear in mind that we 
ought not to be too severe in our judgment of these 



THE ASHMEADS. 201 

last century rulers and writers ; for they did not know 
as much as we do. We must remember that the 
temperance reform is hardly a hundred years old.'' 

^' Ah, but you forget the Bible/' replied Mr. Lund. 
" The temperance reform is very good in its way ; 
but it is not our rule of life, the lamp unto our feet. 
The temperance reform marks the fact that science is, 
as it were, catching up to the Bible. The Bible 
teaching on the subject of temperance was just as 
plain and unmistakable at the beginning as it is now ; 
but people would not believe or obey it, because, for- 
sooth, it had not been scientifically corroborated. 
Now that it has been proved that alcohol is poison to 
the human body, they are, as a rule, more willing to 
follow the plain Bible teaching; but few will main- 
tain that any great amount of credit attaches to that 
kind of obedience. It savors too much of the pro- 
verbial ^ burnt child ' style." 

"Yes, I see," replied Mr. Ash mead ; '^you mean 
the burnt child who keeps away from the fire, not 
because it has been forbidden to approach it, but 
because it knows from experience that it will suifer 
pain. But does not that answer the purpose just as 
well ? So long as it keeps away from the fire, is not 
that all that is necessary ? " 

" Not at all," replied Mr. Lund ; " for there is no 
real obedience, and no surety that the next time the 



202 THE ASHMEADS. 

child is forbidden to do something — eat green apples, 
for instance; it will not disobey, and die of a colic." 

" Then,'' said Mr. Ashmead, who really had only 
taken the position that he did in order to bring out 
in conversation more clearly the ideas that had been 
floating around in an undefined way in his own mind; 
*^the.n presupposing a wise and good law^giver, obe- 
dience is, for mankind, the only road to happiness and 
safety.'' 

" That is the view that I take," said Mr. Lund ; 
" but there are too many who will not obey the com- 
mands of God until it has been proved by scientific 
methods (which is only another way of saying, by 
experience, the ^ burnt child ' method), that the com- 
mands are really such as cannot be disobeyed with 
impunity. 

'' Many scientists and philosophers hold that this is 
a great advance, and that it is much better to do this 
or that, or to abstain from doing it, because sve know 
it to be good or hurtful in its results, than merely 
to yield blind obedience, as they call it, to a higher 
power. 

*' It may seem a great advance at the time, but the 
great lesson, that of real, hearty obedience to God, 
still remains unlearned ; and until that is learned, 
mankind will only surmount one difficulty to fall into 
another. Material evils are not the only ones in the 



THE ASHMEADS. 203 

world, and there are already signs, in the wild meta- 
physical speculation and insidious unbelief of the 
present age, that the struggle against authority is 
bringing many evils in its train. 

'^ There are many other plain precepts in the Bible 
which men reject now as impracticable. They may 
not deny them, but they certainly do not obey them; 
and the result will be a long period of hardship, un- 
told suffering, and blind strugglings and gropings 
towards the light, until at some future time it will be 
scientifically proved that all men are brothers ; that if 
injustice is done it will return to smite the doers 
thereof; that evil must not be done that good may 
come; and so forth. Then probably the inhabitants 
of the earth will look back wonderingly on the dark- 
ness of the nineteenth century, and say, 'They had 
the Bible, and it teaches all these things, yet they 
would not hearken to it; no w^onder they had their 
strikes, their Mormon Question, and countless other 
distressing and harassing social and political evils.' '^ 

^' I am very glad that I have heard your views on 
the subject of obedience/' said Mr. Ash mead. '' I 
think that Baptists ought to understand clearly w^hat 
real obedience to the will of God, as set fortli in 
Scriptures, calls for. You know that we constantly 
meet with those w4io are no doubt real Christians, yet 
have very vague notions of obedience. Some of our 



204 THE ASHMEADS. 

Pedobaptist friends are wont to say, that we are great 
sticklers for a few drops of water, more or less. They 
do not seem at all to understand that we do not con- 
tend about a mere question of more or less water, but 
that we are only anxious to show our claims to be the 
friends of our Lord. You remember he gives us a 
test by which our claim may be established ; ' Ye are 
my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.' 
Suppose we baptize unbelievers, whether young or 
old ; or pour or sprinkle water on believers, and call it 
baptism. Does that of itself prove our friendship to 
Christ? Certainly not, unless we do the thing that 
he commands. Dean Stanley, a few years ago, com- 
plimented those persons who have given up the im- 
mersion which the command calls for, and have estab- 
lished sprinkling or pouring, because they are so much 
more convenient. He does not seem to think it at all 
important that they should do just what Christ com- 
mands, neither more nor less. That is, he does not 
appear to have a clear conception of the importance 
of real, cheerful obedience. I hope the Baptists in 
Europe will always bear their testimony, by word and 
by act, against whatsoever will not stand the Lord's 
own test." 

"I am thankful," replied Mr. Lund, 'Hhat the 
Lord is raising up a people all through eastern and 
northern Europe whose invariable practice is a con- 



THE ASHMEADS. 205 

tinual protest against all specious forms of disobedi- 
euce, and a constant reminder of the necessity of strict 
conformity to the Lord's own example, as well as to 
his expressed will. I feel certain that it will tend to 
the elevation of Christian character, and be useful in 
the promotion of morals in general." 

The greater part of this conversation had taken 
place on board the fine coasting steamer on which the 
travelers had taken passage, and which was now 
rapidly bearing them back over the same route that 
they had traversed only a few hours before. 

As they passed Waxholm they waved their hats 
and handkerchiefs to Harry and Mary, and their 
Swedish friends, whom they observed cruising about 
to the left of the steamer's course. 

The stern and frowning fortress planted squarely 
in the middle of the narrow passage to the inner 
channel, was soon left in the rear. Gefle, where Gus- 
tavus IV. gathered his forces after his unsuccessful 
expedition to Russia, was passed during the night, and 
in the morning the steamer was far up the coast. 
They passed Svartvik, where far off, on the coast 
could be seen the immense saw-mills of Mr. Dickson, 
one of Sweden's richest men. 

" Is that the one of whom I heard at Gothenberg 
as havino; such a fine residence there ?'^ asked Mr. 
Ashmead, when his friend pointed him to the place. 



206 THE ASHMEADS. 

"Yes, the same one; he was called the Vanderbilt 
of Sweden, though really he was not a Swede, but a 
Scotchman. He has given large sums to benevolent 
purposes, and his grounds at Gothenburg, where the 
finest view of the city" can be obtained, have always 
been hospitably opened to strangers." 

On arriving at Sundsval, which is a thriving town 
of five or six thousand inhabitants, the two gentlemen 
went to the Baptist Church, a substantial and commo- 
dious brick structure, situated on the southern side of 
the town. The town itself is built on the south side 
of the river, on a narrow plain that slopes gradually 
back to the hills behind. Arrived at the church, they 
were fortunate enough to find the pastor at home. 
The church and parsonage were both under one roof, 
as is very commonly the case in Sweden. 

The pastor's family were out of town. There is 
hardly any person in Sweden above the rank of the 
laboring classes who does not spend the greater part 
of the summer out of town. The winters are so long 
and severe, and the cost of transportation and of liv- 
ing in the country is so cheap, that the towns are far 
more generally deserted during the long pleasant sum- 
mer days tlian is the case in more temperately situated 
lands. 

After chatting for some time, and inspecting the 
church building, which, notwithstanding the plainness 



THE ASHMEADS. 207 

of the exterior, was comfortably arranged and taste- 
fully finished inside, Mr. Ashmead put some questions 
concerning the number of members and the condition 
of the work. He was surprised to learn that, in a 
town no larger than this, the church numbered five 
Imndred, with a Sunday-school of three hundred. 

" This is one of the six or seven Baptist churches 
in Sweden that supports a pastor; and the building 
cost eighty-five thousand crowns" (somewhat more 
than twenty-one thousand dollars), said the good 
pastor, with a touch of not altogether unpardonable 
pride. " It is not a bad showing for thirty years' 
work.'' 

"Only thirty years!" repeated Mr. Ashmead. "I 
thought the work dated from 1848." 

" That was in the south, near Gothenburg. The 
first Baptist Church was organized there at that time; 
but the work in the north was first started by Mr. P. 
J. Hejdeuberg, who was baptized at Hamburg, in 
1854, and returning here, baptized the first candidate 
at Bankasviken, not very far from here." 

" Did he return here immediately after leaving 
Hamburo;?" asked Mr. Ashmead. 

*^ In 1855," replied the pastor, "the next year. 
And the first baptism took place on the eighteenth 
day of August, at half-past four in the morning. 
The thirtieth anniversary of the occasion is to be 



208 THE ASHMEADS. 

celebrated in a few weeks by an excursion to the 
spot and appropriate exercises/' 

" I am sorry I cannot offer you any entertainment 
here/' continued the pastor ; " but if you will come 
with me, I can do what will perhaps be better. I 
have been invited by one of our members to spend the 
day at his house in the country, and I know they 
would be only too glad if you w^ould go with me. 
You will know that it will not be an undue encroach- 
ment on their hospitality," he added, turning to Mr. 
Lund, " when I mention the name of Palmer." 

'' Palmer! why, he is one of my oldest friends in 
this part," exclaimed Mr. Lund; "and just the one 
that I was going to make an eifort to see to-day. It 
will be very pleasant if you are going there too.'' 

" Well, then, that is settled ; and now let us go out 
and get some breakfast. You must be hungry; for 
the boat arrives early." 

So saying, the good man led the way across an open 
square and down a quiet side street to a neat though 
not very attractive looking building, where was the 
coffee house of the temperance society. 

While they were enjoying their cup of genuine 
Swedish coffee, made as only the Swedes know how 
to make it, Mr. Ash mead learned several particulars 
about the society, which he was glad to store up in 
mind for Mrs. Ash mead's benefit. 



THE ASHMEADS. 209 

The society was seven years old, and had just 
bought a house and lot in a more favorable position. 
There were upwards of seven hundred members. At 
this restaurant customers find good meals neatly 
served at what in Sweden are considered reasonable 
prices, and what in America would be considered 
merely nominal. Thus, for a couple of fresh eggs, a 
glass of milk, bread and butter and cheese ad libi- 
tum, and the invariable cup of coffee or tea, with 
hard rusks, the charge was only forty ore, or about 
twelve cents. 

Having finished their breakfast, the two gentlemen 
accompanied their friend to the house of Mr. Palmer, 
where they spent the day very pleasantly, enjoying his 
generous hospitality, and playing croquet and tennis, 
whicli latter game has proved hardy enough to flourish 
in this high latitude. They were given an oppor- 
tunity to see the working of the saw-mill, with its 
admirable appointments. 



o 



CHAPTER XV. 

A FARM IN THE SWEDISH NORRLAND. 

THE same evening, at nine o'clock, they started for 
Ostersund ; but on the way to the station, Mr.^ 
Lund stopped for a moment to shake hands with a 
short, stout, gray-haired-man, whom he introduced 
to Mr. Ash mead as Brother Hejdenberg. Mr. Ash- 
mead would gladly have paused for a little conversa- 
tion, but it was too near the time of the departure of 
their train ; and Mr. Lund hurried on, only stopping, 
a moment later, to shake hands with a plainly dressed, 
quiet-looking woman, whom he also introduced to 
Mr. Ashmead. 

When they were fairly on the train for Ostersund, 
Mr. Lund talked for some time with a fellow-traveler 
on the subject of the line of the railroad which, as 
usual, had taken just the wrong direction for those 
who wished their property improved by it. The sturdy 
farmer explained all this with many emphatic utter- 
ances met by many an appreciative or sympathizing 
"Ja, so,'' from his hearer. Mr. Ashmead in the 
mean time made notes in his journal by the last rays 

210 



THE ASHMEADS. 211 

of the setting sun, which was just putting the finish- 
ing touches to its long day's work, by gilding the 
surrounding mountain tops ere it sank below the 
horizon to snatch a few hours of repose. Before the 
twilight had entirely faded away, their fellow-passen- 
ger got out at a way-station, and the two gentlemen 
were left in undisturbed possession of all the comfort 
that could be extracted from the long wooden seats 
with which the compartment was provided. 

Neither of them felt much inclined to sleep, espe- 
cially as to do so would only require them to wake 
up again in about two hour's time at Torpshammer, 
the junction with the main line where a change of cars 
had to be made. There was but a dingy lamp fixed 
in the roof of the car, giving just enough light for 
them to make out the outlines of each other's features; 
so, reading was out of the question, and they had to 
entertain themselves, as best they could, by talking 
over the events of the day. 

^' We were very fortunate," said Mr. Ashmead, " in 
meeting the venerable Brother Hejdenberg. Was he 
not the first one to administer baptism in this part of 
the country ? '' 

"Yes," replied Mr. Lund: "and it was a singular 
coincidence that the sister with whom we afterwards 
shook hands was the first who received the ordinance 
at his hands. I wish we had had more time to con- 



212 THE ASHMEADS. 

verse with Brother Hejdenberg ; but trains will not 
wait. I was, however, anxious to introduce you, as I 
knew it would interest you to meet one who has 
played so important a part in the establishment of 
Baptist doctrines in the vast Swedish Norrland, and it 
is no less pleasant for our workers here to meet with 
those from your grand Republic who, like yourself, 
take an active interest in everything that pertains to 
the progress of the denomination.'^ 

" It must be discouraging for your workers/^ said 
Mr. Ashmead, ^'to have so many difficulties to contend 
with.'' 

"It is; but when one looks back over the stretch 
of thirty years, the completion of which is so soon to 
be celebrated at Banksviken, one cannot but feel pro- 
foundly thankful for what has been wrought in this 
land by means of these devoted servants of Christ. 
Here we have over three hundred churches, and nearly 
thirty thousand members ; and we are even recognized 
so far as to have five members in the Parliament." 

" It seems strange to us," said Mr. Ashmead, "to 
look upon that as a cause for thankfulness." 

" Ah," replied Mr. Lund ; " but we indeed have 
cause to rejoice that the days of persecution are over, 
and that our members are no longer called to suffer 
under bonds and imprisonment, as has happened to 
Brethren Hejdenberg, Forsell, and others, time and 



THE ASHMEADS. 213 

again. Yet Sweden is far from being the paradise of 
Baptists, as it has been sometimes represented/^ 

" It must have gained that title from the very 
favorable reports that have from time to time been 
published." 

*' Yes, and it cannot be denied that our progress has 
been greater in proportion than in any other European 
country ; but, you who have seen a great deal of Con- 
tinental life will hardly be surprised if I tell you that, 
in my opinion, it will require fifty years yet before our 
people are Baptists in the sense that they are in your 
country. I would not have you misunderstand me. 
Those whom we receive are of course convinced of the 
correctness of our principles and doctrines ; but what 
I mean is this : that their previous narrow and erro- 
neous training has been so ground into them, that it 
will take a long time to enable them to get rid of the 
traces of it." 

'^ The civil and political condition of the country, so 
different here from what it is in America," said Mr. 
Ash mead, " has also doubtless some share in retarding 
the rapid advance of the people in general culture and 
breadth of views." 

" You may well say so. Indeed, Mr. Ashmead," 
said his companion with great emphasis and earnest- 
ness, "you can never thank God enough for the ad- 
vantages you enjoy in your splendid country. When 



214 THE ASHMEADS. 

I came back here, after a visit of some months to the 
United States, it seemed like coming out of the day- 
light into a cellar. There was something so narrow, 
so oppressive in the atmosphere." 

" I should think/' said Mr. Ashmead, " that the 
publishing work of wdiich you told me, would be a 
most important means of introducing wider and 
clearer views, and raising the general standard of the 
people.^' 

"That is just what we think and hope," replied Mr. 
Lund ; " but the difficulty is to impress upon our 
people the necessity of giving the undertaking every 
assistance at the start. Some look upon it with com- 
plete indifference, and others hold back or withdraw, 
because of slight differences of opinion." 

" Ah, that is the trouble with any new enterprise," 
replied Mr. Ashmead ; " so you must not be discour- 
aged." 

*• That is true, but we cannot help feeling fearful 
when a cold wind blows roughly on a young plant as 
yet barely rooted," replied Mr. Lund. "That which 
w^ould not affect us ten years hence, may now kill that 
newly started enterprise; and," he continued, seeing 
that Mr. Ashmead was evidently much interested, " I 
need not tell you, a business man, what losses and dis- 
advantages that w^ould imply. We ought to have, 
and we shall have, if our brethren do not withhold 



THE ASHMEADS. 215 

needed assistance from us at this critical moment, a 
publishing business firmly established, one whose 
effects will be felt, not only in our own country, but 
also in that great and benighted land which lies just 
across the Baltic/' 

** That would be a thing earnestly to be hoped for 
and prayed for," said Mr. Ashmead, who thought 
that he began to perceive more and more clearly the 
great importance of the work which had been accom- 
plished, and of that which still remained to be accom- 
plished in this northern capital. " It has often 
seemed to me," he continued, " that although Russia 
is numbered among Christian countries, she has 
hitherto shut herself up from all outside influence, 
hardly less completely than China, wdiere increasing 
accessibility to missionary effort has of late years been 
such a source of joy to all true believers in Christ. 
Have you been able to do anything as yet in that 
direction?" 

" Yes," replied his friend ; '^ we have sent many 
thousand tracts and several hundred books to Russia ; 
and, besides that, our people have supported a mis- 
sionary in Finland for more than a year. The pastor 
at St. Petersburg is doing good work, and is at 
present struggling against great disadvantages from 
the lack of a suitable place of worship. He has Bap- 
tist literature already translated into ^sthonian, but 



216 THE ASHMEADS. 

lias, unhappily, no means to pay for its publication, 
and is, therefore, still deprived of a most valuable 
aid in prosecuting his labors in that region. But 
here we are at Torpshammar, where we must change 
cars." 

A railway station seldom looks very inviting or 
interesting at one o'clock in the morning, even though 
it be situated near such an important centre of the 
iron industries as Torpshammar. At any other time, 
Mr. Ashmead's attention would probably have been 
attracted to the features and the main industries of 
the place ; but now, it must be confessed that both he 
and his friend concentrated all their energies upon the 
business of finding the railway-carriage in which they 
were to continue their journey. 

This having been accomplished, each one stretched 
himself out on the hard, wooden seats, intent upon 
gaining such repose as was possible, with the mercury 
below fifty degrees Fahrenheit, very few springs below 
the floor of the carriage, and only a traveling-bag 
serving as pillow below his head. 

It was about six o'clock when they reached Oster- 
sund, which, like all Swedish towns, has suffered the 
fate that overtook Hazor in the time of Joshua. Not 
many months before our travelers entered it, a de- 
structive conflagration had swept away part of one of 
the finest streets, and had destroyed property valued 



THE ASHMEADS. 217 

at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The work of 
rebuilding was, however, going on rapidly. 

" You see the traces of damage are rapidly disap- 
pearing," remarked Mr. Lund, as our travelers, after 
breakfasting at the station, went out to look at the 
town. 

" It does indeed seem a thriving town," replied Mr. 
Ashmead, as he followed his companion through the 
streets ; ^' but what a pity that you should be liable 
to such disastrous fires." 

" We have, at least, a wholesome dread of being 
caught unprepared," replied Mr. Lund. " You will 
notice that throughout the whole of Northern Sweden 
almost every building — be it barn, dwelling-house, or 
church — is provided with a ladder, which is kept 
constantly ready for use, either standing against the 
side of the house, or else, as you have probably 
noticed, laid on the roof." 

*' I have noticed that," replied Mr. Ashmead ; 
"and I confess the plan of having them standing 
against the house amazed me. We have to be careful 
at home that our fire-escapes shall not be turned into 
burglar entrances." 

" Ah," replied Mr. Lund, smiling, "there are dis- 
advantages in your rich and rapidly growing country. 
We are, perforce, more humdrum and frugal in our 
life, but then we do not have to be so distrustful of 



218 THE ASHMEADS. 

our neighbors. I think it will be long before the 
people up here need to put all the ladders up on the 
roof for fear of burglars.^' 

Mr. Ashmead did not reply, for his attention was 
fully occupied with the lovely view before him. 

The town lay on the shore of the smiling Storsjon, 
or Great Lake, and opposite rose the beautiful lofty 
island of Froso, with its fine old church, the walls of 
which are ten feet thick, while the bell tower stands 
at a little distance, entirely separate from the church. 

" If you want a splendid view we should go over 
to that church,'^ said Mr. Lund, " and there, just across 
the bridge connecting the island with the main land 
stands one of those rare Runic stones erected to the 
memory of Ostmadur, the first Christian missionary 
to this part of Sweden." 

'^ Did vou not tell me that the town has a flourish- 
ing Baptist church?'^ asked Mr. Ashmead, the re- 
mark about the missionary recalling to his mind their 
conversation in the beginning of their journey by train. 

" Yes,'^ replied Mr. Lund, " and if you will come 
this way I can show it to you. The hall and the 
parsonage occupy together the upper floor of a large 
frame house in one of the best situations in the town." 

Mr. Ashmead, who enjoyed being taken about 
without any planning or arranging on his part, readily 
agreed to all that his companion proposed. 



THE ASHMEADS. 219 

Mr. Lund, who appeared to be at home everywhere, 
readily gained admittance to the church, the neat in- 
terior of which was well lighted and furnished wdth 
comfortable seats. As they stood near the organ, sur- 
veying this well-arranged place of worship, Mr. Lund 
remarked : 

*^ It is quite an improvement on the time when 
Baptists were only a despised and persecuted sect. An 
ignorant old woman in this part of the country used 
to invent the wildest and most incredible stories, 
asserting that they danced naked and crawled under 
stools and climbed up chimneys, getting all covered 
with soot, and then ran down to the lake, plunging in 
and washing themselves, saying, they were thus 
cleansed of their sins." 

" Is it possible,'^ exclaimed Mr. Ashmead, " that 
such nonsense could be believed and repeated ? ^' 

" At that time there were only too many fo give 
credence to them, and you will no doubt find it hard 
to believe; but it is true that even in enlightened 
England I have been asked quite recently, by those 
whom I should have supposed well-informed and in- 
telligent members of the Established Church, whether 
the stories were true.'^ Mr. Lund spoke simply and 
earnestly, but Mr. Ashmead smiled and shrugged his 
shoulders. He felt that he could better understand 
the train of thought of English speaking people than 



220 THE ASHMEADS. 

of these foreign peasants ; and he mentally decided 
that the questions referred to were put rather from a 
desire to repeat these absurdities than from any real 
belief in the truth of them. He thought, however, 
that the questioners had been rightly served by the 
low estimate they had given of themselves to the 
single-minded, straightfoi'ward Swedish gentleman. 

They next visited the Hall of the Good Templars, 
a very large building, said to be the largest one of the 
kind in all Sweden. The Hall would hold twelve or 
fifteen hundred. 

Mr. Ash mead's attention was particularly attracted 
by the log houses. 

" They are 'more pretentious abodes than the log 
huts I have seen at home," he remarked, as he paused 
to take a more careful look at one of these structures. 
It was two stories high, and the logs, instead of being 
laid horizontally, were placed vertically. 

'' There, however, is a more primitive door mat 
than any you will see in America," said Mr. Lund, 
pointing to a few soft pine boughs laid before the door. 
" Perhaps you have noticed that these same pine 
needles, cut up finely, are made to do duty as sand 
in spittoons at the hotels." 

" It reminds one of the tales of rush strewn floors," 
said Mr. Ash mead ; ^^ but I confess I have no desire 
to go back to tlie customs of those early ages." 



THE ASHMEADS. 221 

"No, indeed," replied Mr. Lund. "I should 
hardly expect you to be willing to exchange your 
comfortable and luxurious American houses for any- 
thing so primitive. Even Miss Mary would hardly 
be romantic enough to forego a good, thick carpet in 
this northern climate." 

" Her romantic ideas are well balanced with good, 
sound, common sense," said Mr. Ashmead, with par- 
donable pride. " She is a wise lassie, and good as she 
is wise." 

"I should be blind, indeed, if I had not discovered 
that even in our short acquaintance,'' replied Mr. 
Lund, smiling, " and he will be a happy man who 
wins her to be his household angel." 

To tell the truth, Mr. Morley's letter had excited a 
slight degree of curiosity in the mind of Mr. Lager- 
bring, and one or two comments that she let fall, had 
raised a few slight reflections in her brother's mind. 
If, however, he intended his remark as a bait, no fish 
rose ; for Mr. Ashmead turned the conversation, and 
began to speak of the trip farther north. 

" The railway, which is, T believe, the most northern 
in the world," replied Mr. Lund, "skirts the shores 
of the Storsjon, and then turning westward, crosses the 
back-bone of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and reaches 
its terminus at Trondhjem. Now when you have 
seen all that there is to see at Ostersund, we will hunt 



222 



THE ASHMEADS. 



up the place I told you of, wliere Carl and I stayed ; 
for I want to show you a glimpse of Swedish farm 
life/' 

Mr. Ashmead willingly agreed to this proposal ; for 
he was delighted with all that he had already seen of 
the beauties of the Swedish Norrland. 

Having feasted his eyes upon the charming scenery 
of Southern Sweden, with its ever-changing, never- 
ending succession of shimmering lakes and park like 
shores, beautiful indeed, but still capable of seeming 
wearisome, from its sameness, and its absence of any 
elevated points, he now found himself, in this short 
trip to the highlands, amid mountain scenery, snow- 
clad " fjellen,'' and rushing torrents of beauty and 
grandeur, sufficient to satisfy the most exacting taste. 
It was a landscape different from any that he had seen 
before in his tolerably extensive travels; beautiful, 
characteristic, and but little known to the world at 
large, either from personal observation or from de- 
scription. 

" I ask nothing better than to see more of this 
beautiful mountain scenery, and to have a chance to 
see the home life, on a farm,'' he said, as they re- 
turned towards the inn. It was thus decided that 
they should, after resting and seeing all they wished 
of the town, go out to the house of a Swedish farmer, 
well known to Mr. Lund, whose farm lay in one of 




A LAPP FAMILY. 



THE ASHMEADS. 223 

the most beautiful and romantic spots on the shore of 
a clear mountain lake. 

The farm-house stood at some distance from the 
railway station, and was reached most readily by boat. 
The following day, therefore, the two gentlemen seated 
themselves in the stern of a boat propelled by a most 
hard-featured and villainous looking individual, whose 
speech and manner, however, belied his looks. He 
w^as very talkative, and entered into a detailed account 
of the chief points and items of interest in the neigh- 
borhood. 

*'You are going to Martenson's?" he asked. 
"There was an artist there last week, drawing pic- 
tures. I rowed him across yesterday to Ann, where 
he took the train for Trondhjem.^' 

" Is there no one else there ?'^ asked Mr. Lund. 

" Ja," replied the man, in his broad strong speech. 
*^ There is a minister who has been visiting the Lapp 
families up in the mountain yonder,'^ and he rested 
the little sticks of wood that did duty as oars on his 
knees, and pointed in the direction where the Lapps 
were encamped. Then, after dipping up a draught of 
water in a very dilapitated old hat, he continued, 
" The sheriff was up here a few days ago.'^ 

" What was that for ? '' asked Mr. Lund. 

'* A man had had a barrel of rum sent up by the 
train and had taken it across the lake, intending to 



224 THE ASHMEADS. 

supply the Lapps. The officials heard of it and sus- 
pected where it was going ; so the sheriff came and 
seized the spirit.'^ 

'• The sale of strong drink to the Lapps is forbid- 
den by law," explained Mr. Lund, after he had trans- 
lated this conversation to his companion. " It is very 
much the same as in America, where the sale of in- 
toxicating liquors to the Indians is forbidden. I am 
very glad to hear that this rum has been seized. The 
Lapps are an honest, unsuspecting race, and should be 
w^ell protected against those who would be only too 
glad to introduce drinking habits among them.'' 

"The minister has been away a day already, and he 
was to return to-day," volunteered the man, as they 
began to approach the landing place. 

Nothing could as yet be seen of any dwelling, on 
account of the thick growth of trees along the shore ; 
but soon they came to a small strip of gravelly beach, 
and with a few extra twists of his comical looking 
oars the boatman ran the little skiff aground in shal- 
low water. 

He plunged out and arranged some large stones and 
planks so that his passengers could land without wad- 
ing through the water, and having received his fee 
with many expressions of thanks, he trotted off cheer- 
fully through the forest. The boat remained where 
he left it. It did not belong to him, but that troubled 



THE ASHMEADS. 225 

him little. If the owner wanted it, he might come 
and get it. 

Through the birch and fir trees, and across a green 
wheat field, a narrow lane led up to the little settle- 
ment consisting of about half a dozen modest dwell- 
ings, each with its accompanying barn. The principal 
house was a neat wooden structure, such as might be 
easily mistaken for an American cottage, save that it 
was painted yellow, with white window and door 
frames, and roofed with exceedingly fine shingles, a 
style of roof seldom seen outside of this country. 
The cow house was a good-sized building roofed with 
turf, covered with a sparse crop of grass and gay with 
many flowers, while at one end some stalks of rye 
were shooting vigorously upward, as if lioping at some 
time by their collective efforts to present the appear- 
ance and to assume the importance of a spire. Against 
the eaves of the building stood the customary ladder. 

On the opposite side of the open, grassy space, in 
front of the farm house, were the horse stables; and 
here might also be seen the sleighs and sledges, so 
indispensable during the winter months, but now 
enjoying a season of well-earned rest in summer 
quarters. 

On the wall hung several sets of snow-shoes, made 
of wood or coarse strong basket work. Each shoe 
was about a foot square. 



226 THE ASHMEADS. 

They were for the use of the horses in the winter 
season. Horses Imve to go through a special course 
of training, in order to walk with these curious append- 
ages ; but even that is better than going through the 
crust of the snow, as they would surely do without 
them. 

In the rear of the house rose a steep grassy hill, 
up whose side a well-worn path led to the low sheep 
sheds, with their rude stone-ballasted roofs, which, 
perched at the summit, overlooked the entire charmino- 
scene of distant snow-clad mountains, picturesque lake, 
and snug little hamlet. 

The farmer was absent with his men, engaged in the 
yearly task of augmenting his not over-abundant store 
of hay, by gathering and curing the grass from distant 
mountain pastures. The travelers, however, received 
a hospitable welcome from the farmer's wife, a pleasant 
and thrifty looking woman, wearing the black turban- 
like head-dress, peculiar to the women of the province 
of Jemtland. 

She moved about with housewifely activity, and 
soon spread before her guests, whose appetites were 
sharpened by the bracing mountain air, a tempting 
and bountiful repast of lake trout ; rich milk ; hard 
bread of three different kinds, colors, and degrees of 
thickness ; a kind of cheese made from whey; and the 
celebrated gammla ost, or old cheese, which is not 



THE ASHMEADS. 227 

used uutil it is at least a year old, and is dark, rich, 
and strong. 

They did full justice to these various dishes, wind- 
ing up with a curious dessert, consisting of milk, 
thickened by the addition of a peculiar kind of vege- 
table juice. Mr. Ashraead had already met with the 
Swedish filbunke, which is the same as the Scottish 
bonny-clabber; but this particular kind of curdled 
milk was new to him. 

After finishing their meal, Mr. Lund and his com- 
panion walked slowly up the steep acclivity behind 
the house, in order to enjoy the fine view which their 
hostess told them could be had from the summit. 

The grass was studded with clover blossoms, fox- 
glove, large petaled daisies, hen and chickens, butter- 
cups, wild yarrow, violets, and campanile, all of pecu- 
liarly brillant coloring; and in the course of their 
walk they also found several specimens of the plant 
used in makins: the dish of thickened milk — a dark 
blue flower, borne on a tall scape with a cluster of 
thickish and rounded leaves at the base. The juice 
which effects the change in the milk is obtained from 
these leaves, and a very small portion of the milk 
that has been changed by the addition of this juice is 
sufficient to effect the same change in any milk with 
which it is mixed. 

From the hill-top, as they looked down upon the 



228 THE ASH MEADS. 

space of waving green around the farm-house, where 
the still uncut grass rippled under the light breeze, 
Mr. Ash mead noticed certain curious arrangements, 
not unlike isolated panels of a post and rail fence; 
but as they were not placed as though they belonged 
to any fence, he inquired of Mr. Lund what they were 
for. 

^* Those are the racks on which the hay is cured," 
replied his friend. '' In our short summers we want 
to give it every advantage of sun and air ; so these 
racks are used. They consist of upright poles six or 
seven feet high, with wooden pins projecting on one 
side of the pole at intervals of about two feet. After 
two poles are set up they are connected by other poles 
laid on these pins, and the grass is hung over these 
rails to day." 

Mr. Ashmead could not help smiling at the idea of 
harvesting some of the broad hay meadows in the 
neig^hborhood of Riverton in this laborious fashion : 
but before he could reply, Mr. Lund, whose keen eye 
had been scanning the village and the opposite shore 
of the lake, suddenly exclaimed : 

" Look there ! Do you see that little boat ? If I 
am not mistaken, that is the minister of whom our 
friend of the row-boat spoke. He said he would be 
likely to return to-day." 

" Let us walk down to the lake to meet him," sug- 



THE ASHMEADS. 229 

gested Mr. Ashmead. "I should like to know what 
he has to say of these strange people.'' 

They hastened down the hill-side and reached the 
shore just as the occupant of the little boat was spring- 
ing from his tiny craft to the dry ground. 

He greeted the strangers with frank and hearty 
manner, and cheerfully replied to Mr. Lund's queries 
concerning his trip. 

" I came up here on a missionary tour," he said, 
speaking in Swedish, while Mr. Lund translated 
for the benefit of his friend, '^for I heard that the 
Lapps were in the neighborhood. I have only been 
here two days. The evening of the first day I started 
to find this encampment, and succeeded better than I 
expected, having no guide but some rather vague ver- 
bal directions, and no road, or even path, to speak of." 

"Is it far distant?" asked Mr. Lund. 

" I walked about twenty miles," replied the mis- 
sionary, and much of tlie way was very difficult. I 
reached the encampment in the evening, just as they 
were driving in the herds of reindeer at milking 
time." 

'^ Did you not find the Lapps hard to manage ? " 
asked his questioner. " I have heard that they were 
very excitable." 

" That is true," replied the minister ; " they are 
easily sent into hysterics. When the sufferings of our 



230 THE ASHMEADS. 

Saviour were spoken of, they were greatly affected. 
Some would call out with a peculiar cry, ' Ho, ho/ 
aud jump up iu the air, gesticulating violently. It 
required all the caution and tact I was possessed of 
not to work upon their feelings too much, and thus 
lose their attention ; but they seemed very willing to 
receive all that I could teach them.'' 

In reply to a question that Mr. Ash mead asked 
Mr. Lund to put for him, in regard to the nature and 
habits of this little known people, the good man 
replied : 

" They are very honest ; so much so, in fiict, that 
they wanted to pay me in reindeer meat for coming 
to preach to them ; and I had a good deal of diffi- 
culty to make them understand that I wished no pay 
for coming to tell them the glad tidings of salvation. 
They are also very superstitious. Last night I saw a 
man standing before the chimney, passing his knife 
nine times around his leg in a direction contrary to 
the course of the sun, and peering up the chimney, 
and looking all around him, rolling his eyes fright- 
fully the while. Whether this incantation was sup- 
posed to keep off disease, or to secure him a pros- 
perous journey on the morrow, or what other signifi- 
cance it might have, I was unable to discover. But, 
in a camp that I visited some years ago, I had an 
opportunity to experience a most disagreeable spell. 



THE ASHMEADS. 231 

The place smelled horribly of burnt leather or skins ; 
and I discovered that they were burning old shoes to 
keep off evil spirits or witches. It certainly kept me 
off; for the odor was simply insupportable." 

The idea and the expression of the good missionary's 
face at the bare remembrance of this spell, were so 
irresistibly comical, that both Mr, Ashmead and Mr. 
Lund burst into a hearty laugh, in which the mis- 
sionary joined. 

^' The Lapps have a curious notion,'' he continued, 
" in regard to the brotherhood of humanity. They 
say that the Swedes and Lapps were originally broth- 
ers ; but a storm burst, and the Swede took refuge 
under a board which God made into a house, but the 
Lapp remained without ; and by this tradition they 
explain the origin of houses, and the reason why the 
Lapps live only in huts or under the bare sky." 

They had been walking towards the farm-house as 
they talked, and they now reached it and were met 
with a cordial welcome from the hostess to the return- 
ing minister. The good man, as might be supposed, 
was glad to rest after his toilsome journey, and Mr. 
Lund and Mr. Ashmead were not loath to sit down. 

He took them into a room that gave Mr. Ashmead 
plenty of occupation in examining its curious appear- 
ance. The walls were painted red as high as the 
window sills, and the floor was blue. In one corner 



232 THE ASHMEADS. 

was a sideboard, built solidly into the wall and reach- 
ing from floor to ceiling. This was painted a dark 
orange brown. The bed, of the same hue, was built 
in the same manner into the opposite corner. Throuf>-h 
the window were visible the fjellen (mountains), rising 
six or seven hundred feet in height on the opposite 
side of the lake, their sides mottled with patches of 
snow gleaming in striking contrast with green stretches 
of grass and dark pine forests, while in one place a 
small river or mountain torrent rushed down towards 
the lake, its white foaming rapids hardly distinguish- 
able at that distance from the snow lying in patches 
of glistening whiteness around. 

Mr. Ashmead was growing curious to see the farmer 

himself; but he did not make his appearance that 

night. 

The farmer and his family lived and took their 

meals in a smaller house, at a little distance from the 

main building. 

"Have we turned them out of their house?" asked 

Mr. Ashmead of his friend. 

" Oh no!'' replied Mr. Lund. "It is the custom in 

Sweden to have two houses, when they can afford it. 

The family lives in one during the winter and in the 

other in summer; thus giving each house time to 

'rest,' as they say, during a part of the year." 

The next day was Sunday; and in the evening the 



THE ASHMEADS. 233 

master of the house came in to partake of the evening 
meal with his guests. He was a perfect type of the 
stern, sturdy Swedisli agriculturist, and he formed a 
very picturesque figure with his square face, dark hair, 
red waistcoat, and Ivuee breeches. 

There were other guests beside themselves that 
evening ; among the number a Jew peddler and his 
little boy, a lad of about ten years old. The conversa- 
tion turning on religious subjects, the peddler })rought 
out his Hebrew Old Testament and other Hebrew 
books. The little boy read off passages from them 
with an ease and fluency that would have done credit to 
a learned and reverend doctor of theology, and would 
certainly have impressed Mr. Ash mead with a high 
opinion of the child's intelligence, had he not hap- 
pened to know that Hebrew children are often taught 
to read the Scriptures merely by sound and without 
regard to sense. It was therefore extremely probable 
that the boy understood absolutely nothing of what he 
read. 

The host sat by, keeping a watch over his guests ; 
and whenever he saw signs of flagging appetite he 
would call attention to the repast with a hospitable 
wave of his hand and a guttural : 

^'Var sa God/' meaning, ^'Please to go on with 
the Smorgas,'' or as it was freely translated by one of 
the guests, ^' Don't stop as long as you can stick at it." 



CHAPTER Xyi. 

HARRY LOSES HIMSELF AND FINDS A FRIEND. 

"IX/TRS. ASHMEAD had greatly regretted that her 
indisposition obb'ged their party to separate. 
For herself, she was well content to remain with their 
hospitable friends at Waxholm ; but, as she said to 
Mrs, Lager bring : 

" The children are so much interested in every 
thing they see, I am vexed that my ill-health should 
be a hindrance to their getting all possible enjoyment 
and information from this trip." 

" Ah, well, they are young, and they will have 
many other opportunities to explore our country," re- 
plied Mrs. Lagerbring. ^' Your people think nothing 
of the voyage across the ocean. There is also a good 
deal to interest them in Stockholm, and the neighbor- 
hood ; and if you will allow them to go about with 
Carl, I promise you that he will be a very careful and 
enthusiastic cicerone." 

Mrs. Ashmead was really a little nerv^ous in her 
position of solitary responsibility during Mr. Ash- 
mead's absence ; but she was too eager that the 
children, as she called them, should be amused, and too 

234 



THE ASHMEADS. 235 

grateful to their kind hostess, to raise any objections 
to her plans. Thus it happened that Carl and Harry 
went off on numerous little excursions, and Mary 
occasionally accompanied them. 

Harry was intensely interested, and no mishap 
occurred ; for Carl took good care not to lose sight of 
him, and Harry was not as lilvcly to stray off unob- 
served when there were only two or three in the party. 
Under the influence of the quiet and restful atmos- 
phere at Waxholm, Mrs. Ashmead gradually recov- 
ered from the fatigue of their previous journeying and 
sight-seeing. 

At last she allowed herself to be persuaded to share 
in a trip to Stockholm that Carl was planning, and in 
which he was very eager that the three ladies should 
accompany them. 

With Mrs. Ashmead and Mrs. Lagerbring both in 
the party, all should have gone very smoothly ; and to 
Carl's credit, it must be said that he filled his r6le of 
guide with skill and thoughtful care, taking care that 
tiie greatest possible interest should be got out of their 
day in town with the least possible fatigue. It was 
not until they were actually on their homeward way 
that anything occurred to mar their enjoyment. 

Harry had detained Carl to make a purchase, while 
his mother and Mary, under Mrs. Lagerbring's guid- 
ance, walked quietly down to the wharf. There was 



236 THE ASHMKADS. 

as usual a crowd of shipping, and people were huriy- 
ing to and fro. The ladies, when they had gone ou 
board the boat for Waxholm, eagerly scanned the 
wharf, hoping to see the boys following them. 

'' I am afraid they will be too late," said Mrs. Ash- 
mead, anxiously. 

" Oh, no ! Carl is too well used to the boat," re- 
plied Mrs. Lagerbring. 

" Oh ! there they are. I see them coming," ex- 
claimed Mary. 

Just at the same moment a manly voice behind 
them said : 

" Good evening, Mrs. Ashmead. I am glad to meet 
you again"; and turning, they saw the tall figure and 
pleasant face of Mr. Morley. 

" Oh, when did you reach Stockholm ? We were so 
sorry to miss you," said Mrs. Ashmead. 

*' You are coming to us, of course," added Mrs. 
Lagerbring, cordially shaking hands with the new 
comer. 

'' Thank you," replied Mr. Morley, '' it will give 
me great pleasure. Is Mr. Lund with you on the 
boat?" 

"No, my brother has gone to Sundsvall ; but we 
expect him home very soon," replied Mrs. Lagerbring. 

*'Mr. Ashmead accompanied Mr. Lund on his trip 
northward," explained Mrs. Ashmead. "He will be 



THE ASHMEADS. 237 

very glad to find you here when he returns. He was 
greatly vexed that he had no opportunity to say good- 
bye to you at Copenhagen ; but we all expected to 
meet you on the boat the evening we left.'' 

" I was detained by matters of business. We busi- 
ness men are sometimes obliged to change our plans 
very quickly/' replied Mr. Morley. He did not think 
it necessary to add that matters of business sometimes 
form a convenient way of escape when matters of 
affection are getting into a position that risks an 
extravagant outlay of that article, without any prospect 
of an adequate return. While this conversation was 
going on, the boat had already pushed oif from the 
wdiarf, and was steaming rapidly away from the city. 

" We are too well satisfied to have got you at last 
to find fault with you for being late," said Mrs. 
Lagerbring. " Here comes Carl. He has grown so 
that I suppose you will hardly know him." 

Mr. Morley turned to greet the young man, whom 
he had last seen as only a boy, and only Mary noticed 
that, in all these cordial greetings, there was a little 
constraint in his manner towards herself, and that he 
glanced behind him once or twice, as though he was 
expecting some one." 

After shaking hands with Carl, he raised himself 
to his full height, to take a more comprehensive 
glance over the passengers in sight on the boat. 



238 THE ASHMEADS. 

" Oil, you are looking for Harry, I suppose/' said 
Mrs. Ashmead. 

" No/' replied Mr. Morley ; '' I can well under- 
stand that he would never be content to miss that 
northern trip with his father. I was looking for a 
friend who came down to the wharf with me.'' 

"It does seem too bad/' said Mrs. Ashmead, reply- 
ing to the first part of his speech, ^^but we thought it 
better for Harry not to go with his father. He will 
be delighted to see you. Do you knoAv where he is 
now, Mr. Lagerbring ? " 

" Do you see your friend ? " asked Mary, noticing 
a slightly troubled expression on Mr. Morley's face. 
" The boat is so crowded, I lost sight of Harry as he 
C4ime on board. Perhaps Mr. Lagerbring can find 
them both." 

There seemed nothing in the words, or in the quiet 
tones of the young girl, to cause such an embarrassed 
flush to mount to Mr. Morley's face. 

" I will go with Carl," he replied, hastily. " He 
w^ould not know the gentleman. I have only recently 
made acquaintance with him myself. Excuse me a 
moment," and lifting his hat to the ladies, he turned 
away. 

'' Do you see anything of Harry Ashmead ? " asked 
Carl, envying Mr. Morley's superior height. "I 
thought he was just behind me. I don't want to 



THE ASHMEADS. 239 

frighten Mrs. Ashmead ; for I don't see how he could 
miss getting on the boat.'' 

The two threaded their way among the passengers, 
looking anxiously for the missing ones, but without 
success ; and presently Carl returned to his mother, 
whispering to her : 

" We can't find either of them. I was sure Harry 
was close behind me; but he is no where on board.'' 

Mrs. Ashmead was already growing nervous and 
anxious at the sight of Carl returning alone; and 
although these words were spoken in Swedish, she 
quickly exclaimed : 

" What is the matter ? Is Harry left behind ? " 

^' I am afraid he is," said Mrs. Lagerbriiig ; " but 
don't be alarmed ; we will get him safe and sound." 

^' Oh, but he is so heedless ! " cried Mrs. Ashmead, 
seriously distressed. " And I don't believe he has 
any money left. What can he do ? Poor boy ! " 

At this moment Mr. Morley came up. 

'^ I see," he said, in his usual quiet manner, " that 
Harry has again distinguished himself by slipping 
away when he ought to be at hand. But don't be 
alarmed, Mrs. Ashmead. I find that my friend has 
also failed to get on board, and I intend to get off at 
the next stopping-place and to take the return boat to 
Stockholm, which will come past in about twenty 
minutes, I am told. That will give me time to hunt 



240 THE ASHMEADS. 

up the two runaways and bring them out to Waxhohn 
hy the last boat.'' 

The easy and matter of fact way in which he ex- 
plained this, went far to soothe Mrs. Ashmead's excite- 
ment. She gave him the name of the hotel at which 
they had stopped, thinking that Harry might go 
there ; but Mr. Morley thought it more likely that, 
having no money, he would simply wait about the 
wharf till the next boat was ready to leave. 

Mary, in addition to her anxiety about her brother, 
dreaded lest this excitement should bring on one of 
her mother's bad headaches. It was therefore with 
an expressive glance of gratitude that she held out 
her liand to Mr. Morley, as he turned to say good-bve 
before going ashore. To her surprise he dropped her 
hand quickly, and turned away almost brusquely; 
but he seemed to make an effort to recover himself 
and said : 

" Don't be alarmed if I should miss the next boat. 
I will take him to my hotel and bring him back safe 
and sound in the morning." Then lifting his hat 
courteously, he stepped ashore as the boat swung up 
to the little wharf. 

It was well that he had thought to make this last 
remark ; for the evening boats came without either 
Harry or Mr. Morley on board, and it required all 
Mrs. Ashmead's self-control and all the comforting 



THE ASHMEADS. 241 

assurances that her friends could give, to prevent her 
from becoming a prey to nervous alarm. Although 
she placed great faith in Mr. Morley's judgment 
and ability, she slept very little that night; and if she 
had been able to follow that gentleman in his quest, 
her peace of mind would have been yet more ef- 
fectually destroyed ; for no Harry was with him when, 
at a late hour of the night, he returned to his hotel in 
a very unenviable state of perplexity and annoyance. 

" The boy must have got confused at the wharf and 
taken the wrong boat,'' he mused. " The only way 
will be to take the earliest morning boat for Gustavs- 
berg and see if he has landed there. But why in the 
world my companion should choose just this moment 
to take himself off, I can't imagine. I don't like to 
telephone to them that I have not got Harry ; but if 
only he were here now, I would send him to Wax- 
holm in the morning to explain where I have gone, 
and to keep them all from worrying. What a chance 
he has stupidly missed ! " 

Mr. Morley smiled a little bitterly as he thought of 
it. He also rested very poorly that night. In fact, 
the only one of the party who rested well was Harry 
himself, the graceless cause of all the anxiety. He 
was peacefully enjoying the slumbers of a tired boy 
in a snug bed at Gustavsberg, under the watchful 

guardianship of Hartley Gifford. 

Q 



242 THE ASHMEADS. 

It must not be supposed that Hartley Gifford, 
whom we last saw resolving with much mental an- 
guish to abandon all hopes of winning Mr. Ash- 
mead's daughter, had now followed the party to the 
wharf in Stockholm, with the express purpose of kid- 
napping that gentleman's son. In fact it was, on the 
contrary, Harry who had inadvertently kidnapped 
Mr. Gilford. 

But in order to explain Mr. Gilford's presence on 
that side of the ocean, we can only refer the reader to 
Mrs. Gifford, and to certain inclinations and predis- 
positions in Mr. Gifford's own heart. These external 
and internal influences, combined with the fact that he 
had a sum of ready money at his command and that 
the church of Overbury did not require his services 
for six or eight weeks, had effected the transportation 
of Hartley Gifford to Copenhagen, and there he had 
chanced to fall in with Mr. Morley, from whom he 
gained enough information, while imparting uncon- 
sciously a little more than he intended, to induce the 
two gentlemen to travel together to Stockholm. 

Just as they reached the wharf on their way to 
Waxholm, Hartley recognized the friendly face of 
Harry Ashmead, as the boy dashed blindly past him 
and scrambled upon a boat j list preparing to put off. 

By a very quick chain of association this boyish 
face called up to Hartley's mind a very lovely girlish 



THE -ASH MEADS. 243 

face, if indeed the latter was ever entirely absent from 
his mind; and by one of those instinctive movements 
that we sometimes find it troublesome to account for, 
Mr. Gifford leaped on the boat after Harry, quite for- 
getting his traveling companion, Mr. Morley, and his 
friends — the Lagerbrings, to whom he was promised 
an introduction at Waxholm. 

When he touched Harry's shoulder, that young man 
turned about with the exclamation : 

" Halloo, this is jolly. When did you come? and 
how did you know we were here?'' 

^^ I have only just arrived, and I happened to see 
you getting on the boat," replied Gifford. 

" Well, it is fun anyhow," replied Harry. ^^ Father 
is away just now; but mother and Mary will be 
awfully glad to see you." 

"Are they on board?" asked Mr. Gifford, still 
holding the boy's arm. He felt rather shy of pre- 
senting himself so hurriedly. He wanted to meet 
Mary first in some quieter place, where he might 
notice what kind of reception she would give him, 
and possibly be encouraged to say some things that he 
had been turning over in his mind during his voyage. 

"Harry, who was easily diverted when his curiosity 
was aroused, now plied Gifford with questions. 

" I didn't know you were coming to Europe. 
When did you decide ? " 



244 THE ASHMEADS. 

"Only a few days before I sailed. Perhaps you 
have not heard that my old home is all broken up. 
My father died just at the time that you left America.^' 

Harry's merry face grew grave with an expression 
of sympathy, 

"No, we have heard nothing of that/' he said. 
" They will all be very sorry. Has your mother 
come with you?'' 

" No/' replied Gifford. " My mother has no love 
of traveling, and my aunt, who lived near us, insisted 
that she should come to live with her. I have received 
a call to the church at Overbury ; but as I had six 
weeks or so to wait before their former pastor leaves 
them, everybody advised me to travel a little; and I 
thought it would be a good opportunity to learn some- 
thing about our work in Europe." 

" It was a first rate idea," said Harry. " You will 
learn a lot in a very short time. Father says he has 
done so." 

Thus they chatted on for a short time until Gif- 
ford's desire to see Mary overcame his shyness, and he 
inquired in what part of the boat the ladies were 
seated. Harry began to look about him, and to his 
surprise, not one familiar face, except Gifford's, was 
in sight. 

"Come along," he exclaimed, in his usual impetu- 
ous way ; " we shall soon find them." 



THE ASHMEADS. 245 

But this was not so easy as he thought ; and soon 
the unwelcome fact forced itself upon them that their 
friends were not on board. 

At first Harry thought that the rest of the party 
had missed the boat; but a little investigation soon 
proved to him that he himself was in fault, as he was 
not in the Waxholm boat at all. 

'"■ Here is a nice fix," he exclaimed. " What are we 
to do?" 

"I'll find out where we are going," replied Mr. 
Gifford, who was not lacking in common sense in an 
emergency; "and we will take the next boat to 
Stockholm." 

Summoning to their aid all the Swedish they had 
picked up, they succeeded in eliciting the information 
that they were on their way to Gustavsberg, and that 
there would be no return boat before the next 
morning. 

" We shall have to stay all night," said Mr. Gifford, 
" unless there is any way of getting direct to Wax- 
holm. Were you all going out there to spend the 
night ? " 

" Oh, yes ! we are staying tliere with Mr. Lund 
and his sister, Mrs. Lagerbring," replied Harry. " I 
mean," he explained, " mother and Mary are staying 
there ; for father has gone up north, on a trip with 
Mr. Lund; and Fm not staying there just now, 



246 



THE ASHMEADS. 



worse luck. They will be in a dreadful worry 
about me." 

Mr. Gifford had already thought of that; but 
knowing so little about the country, he could suggest 
no better remedy than that he had already mentioned. 

" We will take the earliest boat back in the morn- 
ing," he said ; "and till then we must make ourselves 
as comfortable as we can." 

" Oh, but I say," exclaimed Harry — his look of 
perplexity changing to one of horrified dismay, as he 
thrust his hands into his pockets — " I don't believe 
I've got a bit of money. I spent it all just before 
coming on board." 

" Oh, well, I'm not quite so badly off as that," 
replied Mr. Gifford, laughing; "so we shall be all 
right as far as finances go." 

With this assurance, Harry was fully contented, 
and his spirits rose rapidly, as he entered into the fun 
of the adventure. 

Mr. Gifford was not so well pleased. He better 
appreciated the anxiety of Harry's mother and sister 
over the boy's non-appearance; and it also gave him 
a little uncomfortable twinge, when he thought of 
Mr. Morley probably sitting beside Mary, exerting 
himself to relieve her anxiety, and trying to interest 
her with accounts of his travels, or listening to her 
sweet voice in reply. There was, however, nothing 



• THE ASHMEADS. 247 

for him to do but to see that Harry's voracious appe- 
tite was satisfied when they reached Gustavsberg, and 
to pass the night with what patience he could muster, 
while eagerly awaiting the time for the departure of 
the earliest boat the next morning. 

He roused Harry bright and early, and resolutely 
turned a deaf ear to all his suggestions concerning the 
noted porcelain works, which the people at the inn 
supposed he had, of course, come to see, and which 
Harry himself mildly suggested that they might as 
w^ll have a look at, since they w^ere there. Thus it 
happened that while Mr. Morley was steaming away 
to Gustavsberg as rapidly as the early boat from Stock- 
holm would take him, Mr. Gifford and Harry were 
steaming off to Stockholm as rapidly as the early boat 
from Gustavsberg would take them ; and while Mr. 
Morley w^as eliciting enough information from the 
inn-keeper at Gustavsberg to convince him that his 
surmise was correct, but the birds had already flown 
— the truants were safely on their way to Waxholm. 

It must be confessed that in delighted anticipations 
of the surprise and pleasure with which Harry con- 
fidently expected that his mother and sister would 
welcome Mr. Gifford's arrival, he forgot to be properly 
penitent for the anxiety his heedlessness had caused 
thera. It was not until the first rush of joy and 
gratitude had subsided, that Mrs. Ashmead herself 



248 THE ASHMEADS. 

remembered that he deserved chiding ; but the chid- 
ing was quickly forgotten again as something of much 
greater importance rushed into her mind. 

Where was all the polite coolness with which she 
was to keep Mr. GifFord at a distance ? She had not 
thought of that when she grasped his hand in both 
her own in eager greeting, and poured out her thanks 
with trembling voice and tearful eyes. 

Now when she stole an anxious glance at Mary, she 
saw an expression of shy happiness in the young girFs 
face entirely different from the eager and outspol^en 
delight with which she had greeted her truant brother. 

The mother's heart divined what this meant, and it 
was with a feeling almost of fear that she turned her 
gaze upon the young man whose sudden appearance 
had wrought this change. 

AVithout a doubt, he too had seen and had read 
aright the new expression in Mary's face ; and there 
was no mistaking the state of his feelings as his eyes 
sought the young girl, even while he deferentially 
listened and replied to the words his hostess was 
addressing to him, 

Mrs. Ashmead's first feeling was one of regretful 
bewilderment at this unexpected turn of affairs ; but 
this soon gave place to a feeling of relief that Mary's 
feelings were no longer a mystery to her, and that, 
whatever Mr. Ash mead might say, there was at least 



THE ASH MEADS. 249 

110 danger of painful misunderstandings between the 
two young people. She also wisely concluded that it 
was better not to attempt to meddle with what was 
evidently already beyond her control. 

Perhaps it was just as well that Mr. Morley 
was at this time in Gustavsberg, rather than at Wax- 
holm. It was one thing to have shrewdly guessed at 
the state of feelings between this young lady and her 
former friend ; but it would be another thing to stand 
by and see all his suspicions verified, and to feel him- 
self forgotten ; for there was no doubt that he had 
found Mary particularly pleasing, and it was equally 
beyond doubt, that for a time nobody even thought to 
ask any question about himself. 

Mr. Gifford was the first to inquire about him; and 
Mrs. Lagerbring quietly remarked : 

" He went in search of you two last night ; and no 
doubt he has discovered that you took the wrong boat, 
and has followed you to Gustavsberg, this morning.'' 

" Weiy remarked Harry,'' " I'm sorry we missed 
Mr. Morley ; but he will come along all right, and 
then we shall be a jolly party. But," he added, turn- 
ing to Hartley Gifford, "he will have been to the 
porcelain works, you will see. He never misses any- 
thing, anywhere." 

Harry was right. Mr. Morley did visit the porce- 
lain works, wisely considering that, by so doing, he 



250 THE ASHMEADS. 

would give the gratitude and other feelings time to 
express themselves, and to get well under control 
before he again presented himself at Waxholm. 

In the few days that elapsed before the return of 
Mr. Lund and Mr. Ashmead, Mr. Gifford was made 
heartily welcome to Waxholm by the hospitable 
hostess; and Mrs. Ashmead would have found it 
impossible to carry out the plan of polite avoidance 
of the young man that her husband had suggested. 
Hartley Gifford himself had entirely conquered his 
first shyness about meeting Mary, and evidently had 
no intention of a second time letting slip the opportu- 
nity of learning his fate. 

It happened, therefore, that Mr. Ashmead's scheme 
for separating these two young people, by putting the 
ocean between them, had only succeeded in throwing 
them more intimately into each other's society. 

It certainly required no little philosophy on his 
part to accept the situation amicably, when he found 
on his return from the north that all his plans had 
only reached the result of bringing about the exact 
state of affairs that he had been so eager to avoid ; 
but a little judicious conversation with his wife, and 
his own regard for Mary's happiness, when that ques- 
tion could no longer be conveniently postponed or 
ignored, went far to reconcile him. Mrs. Ashmead 
was privately of opinion that her husband's feelings 



THE ASHMEADS. 251 

towards young men studying for the ministry had 
undergone a change during their summer's trip ; but 
he himself only asserted that Hartley Gilford had 
greatly improved, and that he evidently had more 
in him than one might have supposed. 

In fact, one evening when the young people were 
out in the boat, and he and his wife were left for a 
short time alone on the balcony at Waxholm, over- 
looking the landing, he unconsciously paraphrased his 
own words in the remark : 

" My dear Anne, there is no use in talking any 
more about it. The child's happiness is involved ; 
and I think we may truly say that this matter has 
been arranged by a Higher Power. So pray let us 
drop the subject." 

Having thus peremptorily settled the matter, it 
probably did not greatly surprise his wife to find that 
from that time on, until the parsonage at Overbury 
opened its doors to receive a sweet young mistress, 
Mr. Ashmead talked of little else in their private 
conversations than plans for the comfort and advan(;e- 
ment of these young people. 



THE END. 



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